On October 28, on the online conference "Prospects for trade and economic cooperation between Russia and the Republic of Slovenia in 2021. A two-sided view”, reviewed the current practice and identified priority areas of cooperation between the two countries.
The meeting was moderated by Mr. Suren Vardanyan, the Vice President of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who said in his opening speech: "We are entering a new era, in which we will not be able to ignore the events that have happened and are still current this year. We have already entered the stage of digital technologies and its progress is occurring rapidly. But I really feel that human communication, understanding of mentality, spiritual values and the expediency of creation and mutual creation of projects, aimed at developing our economies, will prevail in our decision making".
In response, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Slovenia to the Russian Federation, Mr Branko Rakovec, said that "in these difficult times, such events make a great contribution to the further development of not only economic, but also cordial and comprehensive relations between our countries. He reminded that Russia is a very important and traditional economic partner for Slovenia. He also expressed confidence that the closeness between the people of Slovenia and Russia have common Slavic roots, which contribute to successful cooperation. "The economies of our countries are connected mainly through investments in industry, banking and tourism. In the Slovenian economy, Russia has been a traditional and reliable supplier of our energy resources” said Mr. Rakovec.
The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Timur Ayvazov, in his speech, expressed his concern that "Contacts in business, politics and culture this year were practically suspended. And it has affected the economy - almost all countries of the world have felt it. Especially hard, unfortunately, the pandemic has been hitting small and medium businesses. It is necessary to try, with the doubling of efforts, to open new markets, look for new projects to correct this economic situation and provide additional support to the businesses of our countries, while forgoing the resources of foreign markets.”
Mr. Mikhail Fedorin, the Deputy Director of the Department for Europe, North America, CIS and the Multilateral Economic Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, spoke about how the pandemic had affected Russia. "Such sectors as transport, services and non-food retail have suffered great losses. At the same time, we are witnessing growth in certain industries in these difficult times. These are pharmaceuticals and online sales. We are witnessing a real boom in the development of the online industry - last year the online retail market in Russia grew by about 250%," - said Mr. Fedorin. "This is a colossal leap forward!” - said Mr. Vardanyan, estimating the numbers. “This is a new reality! It includes the pharmacy, in which Slovenia is very successful".
The Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation to the Republic of Slovenia, the Director of Slovenian company “CORPRUS d.o.o.”, Mr. Cherne Dušan, told about the possible prospects of cooperation between the two countries. In his speech, he noted that companies and plants representing large business in Slovenia continue to cooperate with Russia. And representatives of small and medium-sized businesses that have innovative products in the field of nanotechnology and agriculture, do not know how to contact potential partners from Russia, how to present their products in the Russian market.
"Therefore, I am sure that such online meetings should be held more often, focusing on variable aspects and directions, such as energy, tourism, innovative technologies! - I am sure that there is also a possibility of cooperation in the field of new technologies in agriculture!".
Mr. Verbic Kristian, the Chairman of the Slovenian Small Shareholders Association (VZMD), accented the importance of direct contacts and advocated the establishment of closer relations between the MCCI and the Association he heads, in order to eliminate the current lack of objective information, regarding the opportunities of the Slovenian and Russian markets. Mr. Vardanian supported this proposal, recalling that the MCCI has the opportunity to speak "more openly from the point of view that the MCCI is a non-state entity".
An example of successful practice in the Russian-Slovenian IT cooperation was presented by Mr. Vladislav Davydov, the CEO of “IskraUralTel”, the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Slovenia in the Urals Federal District.
Mr. Janez Modrijan, the Head of the Representative Office of Slovenian company “KOLECTOR GROUP” in the Russian Federation, in his turn, provided an example of successful practice of the Russian-Slovenian cooperation in the field of energy, and Mr. Vlado Lončar, the General Director of “IMP PAMPS RUS LLC”, told of an example of successful practice of Russian-Slovenian cooperation in the field of housing and utilities.
At the end of the event, Mr. Vladimir Putkin, the Chairman of the MCCI’s Commission for Foreign Economic Cooperation with partners in Slovenia, offered brief information about the Republic of Slovenia, its market, whose potential, in his expert's opinion, is greatly underestimated, and about the work of the MCCI. In particular, he described the services that the Commission provides.