July 15, 2013. Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev and Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev talked about improving the living standards in and the industrial development of Sverdlovsk Region through a number of large-scale international projects; this discussion took place during their bilateral meeting in Yekaterinburg.

According to Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department, Dmitri Medvedev feels there should be a direct connection between the work done on promoting Yekaterinburg’s application for the EXPO 2020 exhibition and the future up-to-date, highly productive workplaces, wages, and higher living standards.

‘The Innoprom exhibition attracts the attention of general public, investors, and businesses, and we have just talked to our foreign partners about the city’s chances to win the right to host EXPO 2020,’ the Prime Minister said.

‘You are absolutely right in that we are holding the exhibition not for sake of the exhibition, we are doing it to promote industrial modernization and wage increases,’ Kuivashev agreed.