German Investments Into Russia Osint

GERMAN INVESTMENTS INTO RUSSIA OSINT

SUMMARY:

Germany is generally looking to strengthen its small and medium-sized businesses and has the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology backing German small/medium-sized businesses by coordinating with them. New and high-end technologies are key foreign investment sectors for Germany

In Russia, Germany is actively pushing infrastructure development, with concentration on energy efficiency, the health care industry, information and telecommunications technology.

In order to create an appropriate environment, the removal of barriers to trade and the promotion of small and medium-sized enterprises headed the agenda of the SWG. This will help to release the potential of highly innovative German medium-sized companies engaging in plans to modernize the Russian economy.

Approximately 6,500 German companies are currently operating in Russia. Their cumulative investments are around $23 billion as of November 2010. German firms provide one sixth of investments in Russia. SOURCE

Bilateral trade between Germany and Russia increased by 29.6% between Jan – Sep 2010, as compared to 2009, increasing to €42.0 billion (compared to €32.4 billion in 2009). SOURCE

In addition,

Major Firm Investments Timeline:

· Nordstream – Fmr. Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is in charge of the Gazprom-owned project (conflict of interest?)

· May 2008 - Xella a concrete manufactureinvests €24 million in 2008 for the production of its aero concrete SOURCE

· Dec 2010Daimler – Daimler invests €100 million in GAZ Nizhny Novogod to produce the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter SOURCE

· BMW Group in the Kaliningrad region

· DaimlerChrysler to produce agricultural machinery

· Bayer for the production of rubber and construction of chemical factory in St. Petersburg

· MAN Ferrostall construction of chemical plant for methanol production in Arkhangelsk with the participation of MAN Ferrostaal

· BASF (through a subsidiary - the company Wintershall) in projects for exploration and production of oil and natural gas

· Metro wholesale and retail

· German retail branch Swedish company IKEA

· AVA (Edeka), which begins building its own network of hypermarkets «Marktkauf"

· Siemens – over 2.2bn euro ($2.8bn) deal with SINARA to produced double-section electric freight locomotives, 240 have been ordered; Siemens and Russia Railways signed a deal for the modernization of 22 railway yards by 2026 and local production of Desiro commuter trains (planned production volume: 1,200 train cars produced in 10 years).

· 15 July 2010 - Siemens signs a partnership and cooperation agreement in the renewable energy sector with Russian companies Rostechnologii and RusHydro to produce wind turbine components, aiming for 1,250 megawatts of total capacity by 2015, generating an overall capacity of 5,000 megawatts by 2020.

· The German firm also inked a deal with state conglomerate Russian Technologies and utility company RusHydro.

· Russia’s VEB development bank and Germany’s KfW bank group for their part signed an agreement to support small and medium-sized businesses.

· Feb 2011 – SOURCE

Other areas of close German-Russian collaboration:

· G8 Partnership -

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SOURCES

http://www.bmwi.de/English/Navigation/Press/press-releases,did=373038.html Retrieved 110303 at 11:20am

Press Release

2010-11-26

Minister Brüderle meets with Russian Prime Minister Putin

Declaration signed on the economic priorities of the German-Russian modernisation partnership

Federal Minister of Economics and Technology Rainer Brüderle met today with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who was in Berlin for a one-day working visit. Both Mr. Brüderle and Mr. Putin took part in a round table organised by the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, where business representatives exchanged views on current issues facing German-Russian economic relations.

On this occasion, Minister Brüderle stated: "The global financial and economic crisis in 2009 also had an impact on German-Russian economic relations. However, just in the course of this year, we have succeeded in gaining back most of the ground we lost during the crisis. Now, by intensifying our co-operation in forward-looking economic sectors, we want to expand the basis for trade and investment between Russia and Germany and to place our economic relations on strong structural foundations for the long term.

Very good conditions are falling into place. The successful conclusion of bilateral negotiations between the EU and Russia regarding Russia's WTO accession gives reason for optimism that Russia will soon be integrated even more closely into the global economy. Economic activity between our two countries will benefit considerably from this. In order for our economic ties to flourish, it is important for Russia to reduce protectionist measures and to establish a dependable framework for investment."

Earlier today, the Economics Ministries of Germany and Russia signed a declaration that specifies priorities for economic co-operation within the framework of the German-Russian modernisation partnership that was launched in 2008. The declaration was signed by Dr. Bernd Pfaffenbach, State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, and Andrey Slepnev, Russia's Deputy Minister for Economic Development, who serve as co-chairs of the German-Russian strategic working group on economic and financial affairs.

The declaration aims in particular to strengthen bilateral co-operation in sectors that are crucial for establishing a modern, broad-based economy in Russia. Certain projects are already leading the way toward this objective, such as joint efforts in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energy, which have been underway since 2009 and are being co-ordinated by the Russian-German energy agency Rudea.

For the period January-September 2010, bilateral trade between Germany and Russia posted a 29.6% gain over the same period in 2009, totalling €42.0 billion (2009: €32.4 billion). Imports and exports increased at approximately the same rate. However, this was still 20.5% below the level for the same period in the pre-crisis year of 2008 (€52.8 billion).

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http://rbth.ru/articles/2010/10/21/berlin_paris_moscow_axis05046.html Retrieved 110303 12:38pm

The Berlin-Paris-Moscow axis

October 21, 2010

Business New Europe

For most of the last decade, Western European politicians have been staring down their wrinkled noses at Russia, complaining about its poor record on democracy, human rights and corporate governance. But over the last year, French and German politicians have beaten a path to the country to make sure they get a piece of what is soon to become the largest consumer market on the continent and one of the few that is sure to grow over the coming years.

Source: Ria Novosti

Europe has done an abrupt about-face in its attitude to Russia, and a Berlin-Paris-Moscow triangle has appeared in European politics. The change is remarkable. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has been talking non-stop about improving Russia’s investment climate and glad-handing with European leaders to rebuild relations. Only three years ago, then-President Vladimir Putin gave a fiery speech in Munich as relations decayed to levels of animosity not seen since the Cold War that amounted to an ultimatum: stop criticizing Russian internal affairs or the Kremlin will look for new friends.

The economic crisis has changed everything. Rich countries could afford high-minded ideals before the financial firestorm swept the globe in Fall 2008, but now faced with impossible debt loads and crushing deficits, the key goal is to get economies moving – and Russia is one of the few places in Europe where companies can make any money.

Germany was the exception to this EU conceit. Former chancellor Gerhard Schroeder spent most of the last decade wooing Russia. As a result, Schroeder won a nice job for himself – he now works for Russian state-owned gas giant Gazprom as head of the Nord Stream gas pipeline project. But this project should also prove a boon for his country, as the pipeline terminates on the German Baltic coast, making Berlin a lynchpin in European energy politics.

When Angela Merkel took over as chancellor in 2005, she pointedly gave Moscow the cold shoulder, choosing to visit Poland on her first foreign visit. More recently, relations have improved, as the chancellor follows Germany's leading companies to this increasingly important European market. The rest of the German elite have taken her lead. "In Germany, we have an old saying that goes like this: 'When Russia seems strong, it is not as strong as it seems. When Russia seems weak, it is not as weak as it seems'," wrote Wolfgang Clement, a former German economy minister, in an op-ed in The Moscow Times in October. "The relations between Germany, the European Union and Russia can be summed up in five words: We depend on one another."

Reaching the summits

German President Christian Wulff was in Moscow for a state visit in the middle of October, complete with military honors and gala dinners, and gushed about the growing ties between the two countries. "About 6,500 German companies are working in Russia, and many of them plan to enlarge their business,” Wulff said in one of his many speeches.

The Kremlin, on a modernization drive that needs foreign investors, returned the compliment. "We have a large amount of cumulative German investments in the Russian economy. This is almost $23 billion. The growth in the first half-year equalled nearly $6 billion," said Prime Minister Vladimir Putin at his meeting with the German president. That means Germany already accounts for just over a sixth of all Russian investment on its own.

France has been slower to follow, but over the last year, it has been impossible to attend any high-level investment conference without running into the impressive French finance minister, Christine Lagarde, who was in Moscow again in October for VTB’s second investment summit, her third visit this year. Speaking on the eve of the IMF annual meeting and just ahead of the start of France’s chairmanship of the G7, she came bearing gifts. "There is a new monetary policy in the world. It is not unilateral, not bilateral, but multilateral—we need to be multilateral in all areas," said Lagarde at the event, echoing Russia’s decade-old position that was widely ignored while the United States was still the only superpower in the world. Lagarde crowed in the same speech that French investment into the Russia economy has just overtaken that of the U.S.

If there were any doubts over France and Germany’s commitment to pleasing the Kremlin, then the Deauville summit between Medvedev, Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the third week of October should have put them to rest.

The German and French leaders promised to nix visa restrictions on Russian travelers to their respective countries (although not anytime soon). The Kremlin has aggressively been pushing for the end of visa restrictions, as it is the top item on the population’s wish list for Russia’s foreign policy – and both Russian leaders face elections over the next two years.

Sarkozy's office spilled the beans during the Deauville talks saying, "Russia wants the EU to relax visa requirements, while EU nations want clearer access to Russian gas and its economy." Merkel said the same thing, calling for an acceleration of a treaty with Russia that could address plans to abolish visas between Russia and the EU, even at a time when both Germany and France have taken a radical lurch to the right and clamped down hard on immigration.

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http://www.bmwi.de/English/Navigation/Press/press-releases,did=373038.html Retrieved 110303 12:17pm

2010-11-26

Minister Brüderle meets with Russian Prime Minister Putin

Declaration signed on the economic priorities of the German-Russian modernisation partnership

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http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/business-news/120398-germany-russia-cement-ties-with-trade-pacts.html

Germany, Russia cement ties with trade pacts

Friday, 16 July 2010 03:10

YEKATERINBURG: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday oversaw the signing of multi-billion-euro deals to cement tight Moscow-Berlin links further.

German engineering giant Siemens signed deals worth several billion euros for the supply of trains and wind turbines to Russia as the country embarks on a drive to modernize its outdated economy.

Siemens also agreed to help the Kremlin in its efforts to establish a technology centre in Skolkovo just outside Moscow — the country’s answer to Silicon Valley — for which the government has earmarked 170bn rubles ($5.5bn).

“These truly are serious, big agreements,” Medvedev told reporters after the talks with Merkel — their fifth meeting this year — in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.“This is the evidence of a fundamental character of our strategic partnership.”