German Minister of Economic Affairs to meet with Putin in Russia
The Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany, Sigmar Gabriel, will meet with the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow to discuss the deterioration of bilateral trade relations. Among other things, the negotiations will also concern the current sanctions.
Gabriel has repeatedly spoken out in favor of a gradual easing of the EU sanctions against Russia, if Moscow shows visible progress in the implementation of the Minsk Agreements and facilitates the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
In addition, Gabriel, who will spend two days in Moscow, will speak with Russian officials on the issue of the bilateral economic relations and relations with the EU. "Also, a meeting is scheduled with representatives of German companies operating in the Russian Federation," the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy reported. During the visit Gabriel will be accompanied by a business delegation.
German-Russian trade in recent years has decreased dramatically because of the sanctions and the economic crisis in Russia. Since 2012, German exports to Russia fell by almost half; from 38 billion Euros to almost 21 billion Euros. The number of German companies in the country has dropped from about 6,000 to 5,600.
According to the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy of Germany, during the first half of 2016, trade between Germany and Russia fell by 13.7 percent compared to the same period last year. During this period exports fell by 3.5 percent from 10.5 billion Euros to 10.1 billion Euros.
Russia's economy is in deep crisis as a result of the lack of reforms, low oil prices and sanctions. The sanctions were imposed due to Russia's role in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. However, Moscow considers them unjustified, therefore, in response, banned the import of agricultural products from the West.
In March 2014, Gabriel became the first German official to come to Russia after the crisis in the Crimea. The current visit, which was initially planned for the end of June, was changed due to the referendum in the UK.
The coalition partners of the CDU/CSU critically greeted the news about the planned June visit to Russia. That was during the heat of the debate on the sanctions against Russia and NATO’s policy towards Moscow, which was criticized by the head of the German Foreign Ministry, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. What we cannot do now is continue to aggravate the situation by "the clash of arms and battle cry," he said in an interview with the weekly Bild am Sonntag.
Gabriel's visit comes at the same time as the announcement of the results of the parliamentary elections in Russia, which were criticized by international observers for violations. According to the Central Election Commission of the Russian Federation, the ruling party, United Russia, won a landslide victory in the vote on Sunday, September 18, 2016. At the same time, the voter turnout was about 48 percent.
After a visit to Moscow, Gabriel will travel to Slovakia. At the end of the week there will be an informal meeting of the EU Ministers for Trade in Bratislava. One of the topics to be discussed is the Free Trade Area (FTA) agreement between the EU and Canada.