US firms place increased more orders for high-tech products in Russia

Russian companies are actively conquering the US high-tech market, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov at a press conference in Moscow.

"The Russian-American economic cooperation is many-sided, but the IT sphere accounts for quite a significant segment of our interaction," he pointed out. At present the number of orders Russian companies receive from US enterprises in this sphere is growing fairly fast, he said.

By this year the trade volume in the sector amounted to $500 million, in comparison with less than $200 million a year ago. By 2005 the trade volume in the IT industry is expected to reach $3 billion, which will make almost one third of the current Russian-US turnover, Denisov announced.

The current political climate in bilateral relations is "generally favourable for developing cooperation", he believes. At the same time, the deputy minister admitted that "the US party is preserving certain obstacles that hinder Russian companies' progress".

Provided the state conducts an adequate policy, by 2015 Russian producers will be able to get up to 12 per cent of the world IT market, Denisov believes.