The fourth
German-Russian roundtable, a traditional business meeting between
representatives of Russian and German business communities, took place in
Baden-Baden on 9 July. Among the notable guests was Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of
Economic Development of the Russian Federation, who presented his report
detailing the cooperation priorities for Russia and Germany. The event was
hosted with the support of the Roscongress Foundation.
The fourth
German-Russian roundtable was opened by the CEO and Chairman of the
Executive Board of Sberbank Herman Gref, and the Honorary Consul of the Russian
Federation in Baden-Württemberg and the Chairman of the Supervisory Board at
Knorr-Bremse Group (a regional partner of the Roscongress Foundation) Dr. Klaus
Mangold. As part of the two-round discussion, a range of delegates presented
their reports, including: CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill
Dmitriev; Director-General for Economic Affairs and Sustainable Development at
Federal Foreign Office of Germany Miguel Berger; Deputy Director-General of the
World Trade Organization Karl Brauner; CEO of Nord Stream 2 AG Matthias Warnig,
and President of the European School of Management and Technology Professor
Jörg Rohol. Over 50 entrepreneurs, experts and economists from both countries
took part in the roundtable.
The main
topic of the meeting was Russian-German relations. As part of the panel
discussions, issues were raised such as developing international business and
outlining potential areas for cooperation between the two countries. Particular
attention was dedicated to an analysis of current economic relations between
Russia and Germany.
«Russia and Germany are partners with a long
history. As of 2001, Russian-German dialogue has taken the form of permanent
high-level consultations touching on all relevant contemporary topics.
Relations between the two countries nowadays are an important factor for
European and global politics, as they help to solve many global issues. Such
panel discussions are an important way of developing international relations
between countries. The meeting which took place in Baden-Baden demonstrated an
openness to dialogue and a shared interest in Russian and German business
communities from both sides. I am sure that the next meeting in this format,
which will take place in Stuttgart, Germany, will be a decisive step in
developing relations between the two countries and will attract more high-level
participants,» said Anton Kobyakov, Adviser to the President of the Russian
Federation.
As part of the event, Dr. Klaus Mangold, the Honorary
Consul of the Russian Federation in the state of Baden-Württemberg and the
Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Knorr-Bremse Group, noted the highly developed nature of economic relations between Russia
and Germany. «Trade between Germany and Russia over 2018 amounted to 62 billion
euros. That’s basically the highest it has ever been in modern times: trade was
higher in 1997 and 1998, but back then it was down to German businesses buying
up energy capacity in Russia.»
The
previous meeting coincided with the annual cultural event known as
Festspielhaus Summer Festival, which is held in Germany’s main opera and
concert theatre. At the end of the event, guests and participants in the panel
discussions attended Guiseppe Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra opera. Stars of the
global academic stage appeared in the production, including Plácido Domingo as
the protagonist Simon Boccanegra, Ferruchio Furlanetto as Jakopo Fiesco, Roman
Burdenko as Paolo Albiani and Tatiana Serjan as Maria Boccanegra. The opera was
directed by the Artistic Director of the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg
Valery Gergiev.
Dialogue
between representatives of Russian and German business communities will
continue at the next meeting of the business circles, which is due to take
place in November next year in Stuttgart. The event will be organized by the
Roscongress Foundation, together with Dr. Klaus Mangold, regional partner,
Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation in the state of Baden-Württemberg
and Chairman of the Supervisory Board at Knorr-Bremse Group.
