After his arrival in Zagreb, Putin joined the work of the summit in the Westin Hotel as a special guest. Greeting participants in the event, he said that the summit would provide an opportunity to open a broad dialogue and a prospect for future cooperation between countries in the region, Russia and the European Union.
We are ready to build our relations in interaction with the EU, Putin said, adding that the issue of energy supply was today one of the most important issues of the international economic policy.
The strategic goal of our cooperation in that area is to make energy products accessible and guaranteed to all the countries in the region, the Russian president said.
Russia has always had good relations with Balkan countries, and good economic and political ties are also important for stability and security in the region, Putin said.
He recalled that last year Russia had exported 73 billion cubic metres of gas to Southeast and South European countries, which he said was almost a half of the total amount Russia exported to EU countries.
As one of the world's leading oil and gas producers, Russia is willing to do its best to settle energy problems in the region on the basis of balanced interests and equal responsibilities of suppliers, transit countries and energy consumers, Putin said.
The Russian president said Russian companies were already active in some countries of the region, such as Macedonia, Bulgaria and Serbia, and that they planned to expand their interest onto other countries as well.
Russia is interested in continuing talks on selling gas for transit through the region, as well as on building underground gas storage areas in some countries.
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said at an energy summit in Ohrid in late April that Croatia planned to build an underground gas storage area in Slavonia that could serve both to the EU and the Russian Federation, ensuring the stability of gas supply.
I am glad that our partnership today can be compared with a two-way street, the Croatian company "Koncar", which produces equipment for the production, transfer and distribution of power, has been successful on the Russian market for a long time, Putin said.
Russia is open to talks on its possible contribution to establishing a regional energy transit hub, and Russian companies are willing to respect the highest ecological standards in that process, he said.
Establishing a closer cooperation in the energy sector requires the strengthening of mutual trust, which calls for transparency, rule of law, non-discrimination and market openness, Putin said.
Putin's speech marked the end of the first part of the summit. The summit is to continue after a working lunch.
Croatian President Stjepan Mesic is expected to receive his Russian counterpart for talks this evening.