On January 25, during the business mission of the Russian entrepreneurs to Slovakia, organized by the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a meeting took place between the President of the MCCI, Mr. Vladimir Platonov, and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation in the Slovak Republic, Mr. Alexey Fedotov.
Discussed and identified were the prospects of cooperation and main areas of economy, in which the Russian and Slovak businessmen have mutual interests. Mr. Ambassador noted that Bratislava and Moscow are united by old cordial and friendly relations, and not only economic, but also cultural ties.
Despite the fact that in the middle of 2010s the trade turnover between our countries was declining, beginning with the year 2017 the situation has changed - the growth of trade turnover amounted to more than 30% compared to 2013. In the past year, the trend has continued.
Thorough consideration is given to the development of exhibitions’ activity for promoting Slovak products on foreign markets and attracting partners.
The parties agreed that the MCCI will assist Moscow’s and Russian companies in their exhibitions, which are planned to be held at the Bratislava Exhibition Ground venue.
Mr. Platonov, in turn, told Mr. Ambassador about the main directions of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry and that many of the capital’s entrepreneurs are interested in entering Slovakia’s markets.
The visit ended with a visit to the Russian trade office in the Slovak Republic. The meeting was attended by the Russian Trade Representative, Ms. Ekaterina Belyakova and First Secretary of the Russian Embassy in the Slovak Republic, Mr. Igor Samoshkin.
Mr. Platonov and Ms. Belyakova discussed the prospects of cooperation for the two countries, and agreed to arrange a Slovak business mission to Moscow in June of this year. At the meeting, it was noted that Slovakia can become a convenient "entry point” for Russian businessmen to the European markets: many speak Russian, and, according to sociological researches, up to 75% of the residents of Slovakia, who participated in the surveys dealing with cooperation regarding global safety, expressed their confident trust in Russia.
Summing up the results, Mr. Platonov remarked that "participation in such missions provides Russian companies with an opportunity to solve several important strategic problems at once: to reveal, in the shortest possible time, the targeted clientele and the special features of demand in the chosen foreign market; to use the presentation platform for effective positioning of their products and also to expeditiously carry out a number of B2B of meetings with potential foreign partners.”