German large-scale enterprises are interested in investing in Russia, as well as they are ready to share with us high technologies. German politicians, in turn, consider experience of partnering with our country to have been quite positive. This is the conclusion of “Forpost” upon the visit to Potsdam.
On Tuesday, April 16, Dietmar Woidke, Minister President of Brandenburg, held a working meeting with Vladimir Litvinenko, the Principal of Saint-Petersburg Mining University and Co-Chairman of the Russian-German Raw Materials Dialogue. Both parties expressed interest in development of cooperation between our countries and discussed prospects of forming closer relations in the face of sanctions.
Brandenburg is one of the most industrially developed areas in Germany. It also plays a key part in the overall supply chain of Russian hydrocarbons to Western Europe. In particular, 12 million tons of oil are annually processed on the territory of the Brandenburg region. Potsdam is the capital of the Brandenburg Metropolitan Region.
For the aforementioned reasons, the XI conference of the Russian-German Raw Materials Dialogue was held in Potsdam in November 2018. Among its participants were politicians, heads of the regions, as well as executives of the major mineral companies and heads of the universities. As usual, business and science representatives had discussions on the matters related to joint research and commercial projects.
According to Vladimir Litvinenko, despite the restrictive measures imposed against Russia by the EU, there are good prerequisites for development of relations between our countries.
As he explained, "At the conference, we discussed, for example, a few initiatives that are currently being implemented in cooperation with Russian companies. In addition, we have made an agreement on cooperation within a framework of the International Competence Centre for Mining-Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO. There is also a possibility that Brandenburg University of Technology becomes our partner. I am hoping that through these initiatives we will manage to increase efficiency of scientific research. Besides, German students will be able to study in our country and our teachers will get an opportunity to raise their level of competence in Germany".
During the working meeting, the parties also agreed to consider establishment of the Russian-German Public Council. It is expected that this entity will primarily focus on developing academic relations. It will also deal with issues related to student exchange. According to Dietmar Woidke, we are going through a difficult phase in our relations. However, "strengthening the foundations of our friendship" should not be done through technology use only, but the younger generations must be involved in the process.
