Official website of the President of Russia

Документ   /

Meeting participants discussed topical issues for Russian-Czech relations, particularly economic and trade cooperation, cooperation in the energy sector, and developing ties in culture and education.

In addition, Petr Necas relayed to Vladimir Putin the outcome of talks he had with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev earlier that day.

* * *

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, Mr Prime Minister, dear friends, I’m very glad to see you.

I know that you have a busy agenda while you are in Russia. You have already met with Russia’s Prime Minister; you will also be travelling to St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg. I am sure that this will be interesting and useful.

We have almost returned to our previous levels of trade; in 2012 we reached pre-crisis levels. I am sure that you and Mr Medvedev discussed in detail almost all areas in which we cooperate.

These include investment cooperation, our traditional cooperation in the energy sector, and new areas, such as mechanical engineering, which represent a continuation of our cooperation in the nuclear power industry. All this is the object of our attention and is supported by both sides.

I’d just like to say at once that we see cooperation with the Czech Republic as cooperation with one of our historical partners and pay a great deal of attention to it.

We are glad to see you, Mr Prime Minister, and your entire delegation in Russia.

Prime Minister of The Czech Republic Petr Necas (re-translated): Mr President, I am extremely pleased that I travelled to Russia with my delegation and a large group of Czech entrepreneurs.

We very much appreciate the active political dialogue underway between the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation. And it is gratifying to see that our relations are developing not only at the interstate level, but also at the regional level.

The Russian Federation is a strategic economic partner for the Czech Republic, and we intend to continue developing our historically proven relations. Last year we saw a six percent increase in our trade, and I think that’s good news for both countries. There are some industries, such as energy, in which we traditionally cooperate.

Together with Mr Medvedev, we discussed issues such as, for example, gas and oil and their supply to the Czech Republic. And we also noted that Czech companies are interested not only in trading with Russia, but also in making investments and doing business here.

During my visit a number of memorandums and agreements on hydropower, combined-cycle power plants, mechanical engineering and so on will be signed. We see a considerable potential here for our mutual cooperation, and we want to develop it further.

<…>