It’s good that we have been able to identify the areas in which our [Russia’s and Germany’s] interests coincide, and where there is potential for cooperation, such as the green agenda and digitalization. It’s very good that the Russian Union of Industrial Entrepreneurs, European business, and German business have created the corresponding digitalization group. I would very much urge us all to be guided by these fundamental considerations and would like to focus on these positive agenda items that we have so that we can possibly help our countries move from disagreements to discussions as a whole — Alexey Mordashov, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Severstal.

Today we are working to promote ideas and digitalization, and to strengthen Russian-German relations with our German partners [...] We are doing a lot of work in terms of ​​interaction with the Eastern Committee of German Economy. This above all includes the activities of the Russian-German Council for Technical Regulation and Standardization for the Digital Economy. Of course, the economics and industrialists, and the industries of Germany and Russia must speak the same language, i.e., work according to the same unified standards. A number of joint Russian-German initiatives have already been implemented, for example, in digital transformation experts have developed a multilingual English-Russian-German dictionary and a glossary for smart production and industry 4.0 — Dmitriy Pumpyanskiy, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Tube Metallurgical Company (TMK); Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sinara Group .

We need to find examples of projects that we want to implement together […] This not only concerns energy production, but also how to technically transfer this energy, and we really want to work in Russia and with Russia — Christian Bruch, President, Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Energy AG.

We have managed to achieve certain successes and long-term cooperation because partners have trust and responsibility. I believe this is a very important factor for success. When partners trust each other and bear mutual responsibility to themselves, to buyers, and to suppliers, then everything works out — Dmitriy Pumpyanskiy, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Tube Metallurgical Company (TMK); Chairman of the Board of Directors, Sinara Group .

I believe the mutual interest between German and Russian business, which has existed for many years and remains today [...], is very important for maintaining a certain level of relations between our countries […] It’s very good that German business and Russian business, despite everything that is happening, maintains mutual interest and closeness of business contacts — Alexey Mordashov, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Severstal.

Today, we don’t have a unified methodology for assessing the negative contribution made by a particular enterprise in the manufacturing of relevant products. Russia is trying to do a lot, but without an effective dialogue between Russian and European business, particularly German [business] [...] I think it would be extremely difficult to reach decisions at the governmental levels […] So, the second issue, of course, is that it will cost money for each company and for each country. The energy transition will not be free of charge. These are new technologies, and this is the transformation of an entire economy or a significant part of it — Victor Vekselberg, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (SkolTech); Chairman of the Board of Directors, Renova Group.

Unfortunately, last year we saw some complications in European-Russian and German-Russian relations. This is bad for all of us and bad for the long-term prospects of Russia, Germany, and Europe as a whole — Alexey Mordashov, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Severstal.

Many of our employees also use traditional energy, for example, gas turbines, but I believe that energy transformations can be achieved using gas. Russia, as I now see it, [...] has clearly stated that they will indeed also be working on the sustainable development of energy, but there will be a slightly different balance between energy and how it is paid for […] This is not only a chance, but also our responsibility on the part of the economy to develop projects and find solutions so that we can show society how CO2 can be friendly enough when we talk about supplying energy […] We need to find examples of projects that we want to implement together […] This not only concerns energy production, but also how to technically transfer this energy, and we really want to work in Russia and with Russia — Christian Bruch, President, Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Energy AG.

We must look to the future in such a way that gas remains and plays its role, and determine what role it will play in this transition period, so that we still achieve this sustainable development — Klaus Mangold, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Knorr-Bremse.

Sometimes there are protests from the green side in the sense that we need to invest in green energy, and not in traditional pipelines. We read a lot between the lines. I am a big supporter of Nord Stream 2, but this project has taken on some sort of symbolic meaning. It’s a significance that seemingly should not be associated with it, but it has become a symbol of cooperation between Germany and Russia — Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board, Chief Executive Officer, OMV AG; President, Russian-German Chamber of Foreign Trade.

I believe that the scientific community could play a key role [in carrying out the tasks needed for the energy transition] because the dialogue on how to count, what to count, and what to evaluate is still open today, and I would like to say that at SkolTech, at the university, we have already created a fairly large centre for the study of sustainable development, and its main focuses include, on the one hand, developing progressive methods in analytics related to resolving these tasks and problems and, on the other hand, developing specific technological solutions for the utilization, storage, and development of solutions for hydrogen energy — Victor Vekselberg, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (SkolTech); Chairman of the Board of Directors, Renova Group.

We want to reduce CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. This is the main goal, and hydrogen energy in this sense would be quite productive because the emissions and carbon footprint would be lower [...] We need infrastructure, we need transportation, and we need pumping, including hydrogen. Of course, hydrogen is great. It’s a special technology that has potential as well as potential for our cooperation. Let’s create a German-Russian alliance for hydrogen energy — Rainer Seele, Chairman of the Executive Board, Chief Executive Officer, OMV AG; President, Russian-German Chamber of Foreign Trade.

We need to see now how we will handle international cooperation, especially between Russia and Germany. We have many opportunities with [Russia]: we spoke about hydrogen; we can talk about gas. Indeed, it will be a sustainable supply of energy. We can talk about harmonization — Christian Bruch, President, Chief Executive Officer, Siemens Energy AG.