Tatarstan President about trade turnover with Thuringia: It is necessary to involve small and medium businesses in this process as much as possible

On June 24, at Tatarstan – Thuringia Business Forum held during a working visit of Tatarstan delegation to the city of Weimar, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov said that Tatarstan is interested in attracting business from Thuringia and is ready to provide all possible assistance in this.

Before the forum, Tatarstan President and Prime Minister of Thuringia Bodo Ramelow had a working meeting. Minnikhanov noted that today the trade turnover between Tatarstan and Germany steadily increases and exceeds 1.8 billion US dollars. “Large companies are mainly involved in these processes. Our task is to involve small and medium businesses as much as possible. Using the example of projects involving small and medium enterprises, Tatarstan and Thuringia will show that our markets are open. We should organize mutual visits of delegations more often and resolve the issues that come from business representatives carefully,” Minnikhanov said.

Ramelow supported Tatarstan President and proposed to more actively develop cooperation in the area of digitization of manufacturing, in education and agriculture.

Ramelov noted that today a difficult political situation has developed in the world and this situation can only be resolved following the dialogue aimed at a peaceful perspective. The development of interregional cooperation is important in this process, he said.

Minnikhanov noted that Tatarstan is interested in attracting business from Thuringia and is ready to provide all possible assistance in this. “Today, German business successfully develops its activities in our republic. We are actively using the experience of your country in the area of engineering and high technology. Germany is our leading foreign economic partner. Last year, trade turn exceeded 1.8 billion US dollars. At the same time, imports from Germany increased by 20 per cent. This indicates that Tatarstan is a big market for German companies,” he emphasized.

Tatarstan President said that in the near future it is planned to open a representative office of Tatarstan in Germany. Such leading German companies as Daimler, Siemens, Linde, BASF and Bosch are actively working in the republic. KAMAZ Automaker and German Daimler Company signed an investment agreement on the development of a new model range of trucks. At the end of May this year, their joint manufacturing of frames for KAMAZ cabins was launched in Naberezhnye Chelny.

According to Minnikhanov, loan agreement for 800 million EUR was signed between a consortium of banks headed by Deutsche Bank and the Tatarstan enterprise Nizhnekamskneftekhim Petrochemical Company with the participation of Hermes Insurance Company. The resources are allocated to finance the contract with the German Linde Company under the construction of a large olefin complex. As many as four companies that are subsidiaries or joint enterprises of German partners are operating at the Alabuga Special Economic Zone.

Head of Tatarstan Investment Development Agency Taliya Minullina made a presentation of the investment and industrial potential of the republic and Tatarstan Deputy Prime Minister Roman Shaykhutdinov told the forum participants about the development of information technologies in the republic.

Then, Minnikhanov and Ramelow took part in the ceremony of signing of cooperation documents between Tatarstan and Thuringian companies.