Russian Premier To Meet With German Chancellor In Berlin

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and German Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder are expected to meet in Berlin on Monday to discuss preparations for a Russia-EU summit, which is due in Moscow on May 17, and Russia's debt to Germany, especially the problem with the so-called transferrable rubles that were in circulation between the USSR and the German Democratic Republic. Talks will also touch upon a 50% increase in deliveries of Russian energy products to Europe, joint participation of Russian and German companies in the rehabilitation of Yugoslavia, German projects of development of the Kaliningrad region /Russia's semi-enclave on the Baltic Sea/, and re-establishment of economic ties between 150 enterprises of the former German Democratic Republic and their ex-Soviet partners. At the moment, Germany is Russia's key economic partner, with commercial exchange between two countries reaching $20 billion per year. German investments in Russian economy amount to $6.9 billion, or 23% of all foreign investments in the country /Russia has 1,300 enterprises with 100% German participation, and 1,200 joint ventures/. In terms of value, Germany accounts for 26% of engineering equipment, 58% of clothes, 45% of footwear, 15% of medical drugs imported to Russia; it is also Germany's principal debtor /40 of Russia's foreign debt/. As far as export goes, Russia meets 36% of Germany's gas, 27% of oil and 22% of nonferrous metal requirements; Russia also invests around $1.5 billion in German economy /Gazprom and Rosneft/ and has over 100 companies with the Russian participation operating on the German territory. On Sunday, Kasyanov attended the opening of an international fair of mechanical equipment in Hanover, where he talked to German businessmen and journalists. Today, he will attend the fair once more to open a Russian-German economic seminar. On the evening of April 23, Kasyanov leaves Germany for Stockholm.

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