institute of europe
the institute of europe of the russian academy of sciences
Eurasian Union's capacity to cooperate with Germany
- 24 February 2017
On February 24, 2017, Vladislav Belov, Deputy Director of IE RAS, took part in the conference «New rules, new spaces – opportunities in Russia and in the Eurasian Union» organized by Russian-German Chamber of Commerce and the Eastern Committee of German Economy at the House of German Economy (Berlin).
The conference welcomed around 500 participants, including representatives of small, medium and large businesses as well as high-ranking officials from Germany and member-states of the Eurasian Union. The prospects of German firms' economic activity in the markets of Eurasian Union were at the top of agenda. Tigran Sarkisyan, Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Commission, gave a speech during the evening reception.
Three panel discussions covered the peculiarities of German firms operating in the markets of Eurasian Union countries, localization of production and logistics of goods. Eastern Committee of German Economy and Russian-German Chamber of Commerce presented joint inquiry, featuring opinions of representatives of 190 German firms operating in Russia. These firms' cumulative turnover equals 29 bln EUR, and overall number of employees – 122000 people. The majority of those questioned support the view that, despite mutual sanctions, business environment in Russia has improved significantly, leading to the expectation of increased profits in 2017. About 40% of those questioned are planning to recruit more staff in Russia, 30% intend to invest in Russian projects, 40% anticipate delivery expansion to Russian partners.
