Mikhail Kasyanov Reiterates Russia's Eagerness To Maintain Many-Sided Cooperation With Slovakia

Russia's government is adhering to a line of many-sided cooperation with Slovakia, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov said Monday as opening a meeting with President Rudolf Schuster of Slovakia. Intensive political dialogue between Russia and Slovakia has promoted rapid development of bilateral economic contacts, emphasized the premier. Recent meetings of the two countries' presidents, believes Kasyanov, gave an impetus to this development. The Slovak president is known in Russia as a strong advocate of more active relations with Russia. The Russian premier gave a high assessment to performance of the Russo-Slovak governmental commission for trade-economic and scientific-technological contacts, which had helped implement a series of crucial projects, including the industrial ones. The fact that Rudolf Schuster is being accompanied on his Russian visit by heads of the country's economics-related ministries and businessmen will contribute to elaboration of new projects, according to the premier. President Schuster, on his part, said the growth of bilateral cooperation of the past years helps "melt the last blocks of ice in bilateral relations which formed earlier".