International Relations | 14.07.2010
Merkel gets down to business with Medvedev
Accompanying German Chancellor Angela Merkel on her trip to Russia this week is a delegation of 25 business leaders. Merkel is due to hold two days of trade talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and ministers from their respective governments in Yekaterinburg beginning on Wednesday. The talks are to focus on economic cooperation.
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In Russia, Merkel and Peter Loescher, CEO of the engineering giant Siemens, are to sign a 2.2-billion-euro ($2.8-billion) deal to supply 200 trains to Russia's RJD railway company's regional network. It's the second such contract this year for Siemens and the company has also signed on to provide 54 trains for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. In addition to Loescher, the heads of several other German companies, including Volkswagen, Airbus, BASF, Metro and Commerzbank, are headed to Russia.
Germany is Russia's main economic partner and the two countries did 47 billion euros worth of trade in 2008. German exports to Russia were up by more than 200 percent between 2000 and 2009 but have fallen in the last few years. Industrial leaders in Germany are hoping Merkel will push Medvedev to revamp Russia's economy.
"Russia's competitiveness has declined in the last two or three years," Klaus Mangold, head of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, told the news agency Reuters. "The country must modernize to be more competitive."
Sticky issues
Also on the agenda is Iran's controversial nuclear program, the war in Afghanistan, Russia's relationship with the European Union and energy supply concerns. Germany relies on Russia for many of its mineral resources and improving her country's access to gas and oil is a priority for the chancellor.
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Merkel may also raise the issue of human rights. Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the murder of human rights activist Natalia Estemirova. She was found shot in the head in Ingushetia after she was kidnapped. Memorial, the organization she worked for, has accused Chechnya's pro-Kremlin leader Ramzan Kadyrov of being behind the crime.
After Russia, Merkel is scheduled to head to China and then on to Kazakhstan. She is to meet with the leaders of both countries. German exports to China and Kazakhstan jumped 285 percent and 270 percent, respectively, between 2000 and 2009.
This will be Merkel's fourth trip to China since taking office in 2005 and her first to Kazakhstan.
Author: Holly Fox (AFP/dpa/Reuters)
Editor: Chuck Penfold
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