Russian president Dmitry Medvedev today urged German chancellor Angela Merkel to invest in his country and help boost his plans to modernise the economy.
The Russian leader has called for warmer ties with the West as he seeks to diversify the Russian economy after the global economic crisis revealed the weakness of its energy and commodities export-reliant model.
"We are counting on German structures taking part in the modernisation of... companies," Mr Medvedev told his German counterpart in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg, on a tour of Russia, China and Kazakhstan to promote trade.
According to Russia's Customs Service, Germany was its equal biggest trading partner last year alongside the Netherlands, closely followed by China.
The European Union accounted for just over half Russian trade in 2009, while the US accounted for just 3.9 percent.
Dr Merkel, who has been under political pressure at home, is travelling with a delegation of German business leaders aiming to sign a series of lucrative deals.
Her delegation includes the bosses of industrial conglomerate Siemens, carmaker Volkswagen, planemaker Airbus, chemicals group BASF, retailer Metro and lender Commerzbank.
Siemens is expected to sign a major joint venture to build a wind turbine manufacturing facility in Russia, as well as an order to supply 240 trains to Russian Railways.
Siemens has partnered with RZhD (Russian Railways), Russian power generators and medical groups for years, earning billions of dollars from RZhD alone.
It supplied RZhD with eight trains for its fledgling high speed link between Moscow and St Petersburg last year, and signed a 30-year maintenance contract for €630 million.
Siemens was embroiled in a major bribery scandal in Russia in recent years, but the affair has not harmed the company's dealings in the country. Siemens is expected to become a player at Skolkovo innovation centre - a technology hub set up by Mr Medvedev to mimic the US's Silicon Valley.
Reuters