Baden-Baden Hosted Annual Meeting of Russian and German Business Circles

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.