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A regular meeting of the Russian Parliamentarian European Club under the theme “Russia-EU Business Engagement Perspectives” was held in Moscow on 6 December 2017.
The participants discussed opportunities and challenges of Russian – European business cooperation in the context of global shifts caused by, inter alia, digitalization and increasing protectionism.
As Dr. Alexander Shokhin emphasized in his speech, European business demonstrates commitment to cooperation and investment in Russia on the basis of pragmatic approach. The EU remains the largest investor to the Russian economy. According to the Central Bank of Russia, cumulative FDI from the EU to Russia was about USD277 billion, as for 1 April 2017. European companies are among leaders on a number of investment projects. From 205 projects financed in 2016, 43 – were financed by German partners, 20 – French, 9 – Austrian, 7 – Italian and Finnish and 5 – Dutch ones. Many companies have long-terms strategies for operations in Russia. For example, in October 2017 Sanofi announced signing of a special investment contract on modernization of pharmaceutical industrial production at a plant “Sanofi Aventis Vostok CJSC” in Orlov region. Since June 2017, insulin produced at “Sanofi Aventis Vostok CJSC” is exported abroad.
The meeting was attended by high-level Russian and EU representatives, in particular Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Federation Committee on Foreign Affairs Mr. Andrey Klimov; President of All-Russian Union of Insurers Mr. Igor Yurgens; Director General of the Association of European Businesses (AEB) Frank Schauff; Member of the European Parliament, Deputy Head of Culture and Education Committee Mr. Stefano Maullu; Ambassador of the European Union to Russia Mr. Markus Ederer; President of ALSTOM Transport RUS Ltd., Member of the AEB Board Mr. Philippe Pegorier and many others.