AHK General Meeting: "We can remain a family"

An important event at the meeting was the greeting by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who emphasized the importance of bilateral relations.

"Trade and economic cooperation is currently one of the most consistent, pragmatic elements of the bilateral agenda," the Foreign Minister stressed. "Notwithstanding the difficult situation in Europe, Germany continues to be one of Russia's key economic partners."

According to Sergei Lavrov, German capital investments in the Russian economy amount to more than 20 billion US dollars. Industrial objects are built and modernized with and based on German technologies.

"The German-Russian Chamber of Foreign Trade makes an important contribution to the further development and consolidation of practical cooperation," the Foreign Minister emphasized. "It is the largest foreign business association in Russia with over 1,000 member companies."

The EkoNiva Group, the subsidiary of Ekosem-Agrar AG, is also a member of the German-Russian AHK.

Stefan Dürr, Chairman of the Board of Ekosem-Agrar AG and President of the EkoNiva Group, has not only been developing milk production in Russia for many years, but has also made a significant contribution to promoting relations between the countries, for which he has repeatedly been honored. At the General Meeting, Stefan Dürr was elected as a member of the Presidential Council. He spoke about his work in Russia and shared his experiences.

"Russia and Germany are like mother and father for German companies in Russia and Russian companies in Germany," said Stefan Dürr. "It's good for everyone if parents get along well and live in harmony. I feel like a child who cries out in a divorce: 'Why are you fighting? We can stay together as a family!’ I am sincerely happy to serve on the Presidential Council of the Russian-German Chamber of Foreign Trade. I am interested in maintaining and improving relations between the countries. I am sure that together we can accomplish a lot!"

AHK President Dr. Rainer Seele believes that business and civil society remain the cornerstones of the bilateral partnership.

"There are many areas to be proud of in our partnership and to build on," Rainer Seele emphasizes. "One of them is the supply of natural gas to Europe, which has worked for many decades. This energy cooperation can also include new technologies like hydrogen."

Hydrogen is seen as one of the key technologies on the path to climate neutrality and is thus important for industry and transport. Here, too, Europe will not be able to succeed alone, experts say.