Moscow, 1 June: At a meeting with the head of the Russian Financial Monitoring Service, Viktor Zubkov, Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that the activity of this department must not inflict damage on businessmen.

"Your work must be carried out in such a way that it does not inflict damage on business but on the contrary, helps it function in a normal, legal regime," Putin said.

The president remarked that the Russian Financial Monitoring Service "is granted very great powers" by the law.

"Your colleagues work steadily, consistently and effectively. I see this. And I very much expect that the work in the future will also be carried out in the same vein," Putin said.

He then stressed that "this means, principally, the defence of the interests of the state, the creation of a normal working atmosphere in the economy". He added: "But this work must be carried out in such a way that it doesn't inflict damage on business."

The Russian president also asked the head of the service to pay particular attention to the safeguarding of information which the Russian Financial Monitoring Service possesses.

"You have very great powers, very much information, and the safeguarding of this information must be one of the fundamental parts of your activity," Putin said.

For his part, Zubkov assured the president that his department had created its own security service which had established protective measures on several levels - physical as well as technical.

"We understand the importance of securing the information which we get in large volumes from law-enforcement agencies and foreign colleagues," Zubkov said.