Russia and Germany agreed to hold talks in Yekaterinburg in October

Russian President Vladimir Putin is convinced that the G-8 summit will have a positive impact on the world economy. As a Rosbalt correspondent was informed by the president's press office, Mr Putin made this announcement while holding bilateral talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder after the first session of the summit.

The two leaders agreed to hold intergovernmental talks in October this year in Yekaterinburg where the main topic of discussion will be collaboration in the area of science and industry. Mr Putin and Mr Schroeder also spoke of the most pressing issues relating to Russian-German collaboration in the area of space exploration and aviation. In addition, they talked of the growing level of collaboration in the energy sector, the gas industry in particular. A Russian-German energy forum is expected to be held before the end of 2003.