Vizjak: Clearing Debt Repayment Through Economic Cooperation
Economy Minister Andrej Vizjak came out of Slovenian-Russian trade commission meeting on Friday saying that economic cooperation is increasing through considerable trade growth and mutual investments. The coming years seem even brighter due to Russian investments as part of its clearing debt repayment, he told the press.
Slovenia and Russia are discussing concrete ways of how Russia can repay its US$ 129m debt to Slovenia, Vizjak and head of Russia's Federal Agency for Construction, Housing and Communal Infrastructure Sergey Kruglik told the press after the meeting.
The pair agreed that the goal of the commission was not to repay the debt as quickly as possible, but as effectively as possible.
"We all want the repayment of the clearing debt to take the economic cooperation between the countries even further," said Vizjak.
"We wish to find concrete and mutual benefits from cooperation," he explained, adding that he believed projects and specific deals would soon be on the table.
Meanwhile, Kruglik said the task was to remove the remaining obstacles that might hinder future cooperation between the countries.
Economic cooperation between the countries is seeing substantial growth, said Vizjak, adding that trade between had increased by 20% compared to 2005 and already exceeded US$ 1bn.
Russia and Slovenia are to detail the process of debt repayment in an agreement, which is expected to be drafted and approved by the end of the year.
Russia's clearing debt to Slovenia, which Russia is to settle in goods and services over three years, has been a topic of discussions since Slovenia's independence in 1991.
Although the countries reached an agreement in principle in December 2003, Russia later shied away from the deal.
Talks on the issue hit a standstill in 2004 and were opened again in May this year, during a visit by Prime Minister Janez Jansa to Moscow, as Russia unveiled a new proposal.
Incidentally, today marks 15 years since Slovenia and Russia established diplomatic relations.
Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel and his counterpart Sergey Lavrov exchanged compliments on the occasion and wished for continued cooperation based on friendship, mutual understanding and respect, the Foreign Ministry said.
The Russian Federation acknowledged the Republic of Slovenia as an independent state on 14 February 1992, directly following the recognition by the European Community.
Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Slovenia and the Russian Federation were established formally on the occasion of the visit by Russian foreign minister Andrej Koziryev to Ljubljana on 25 May 1992.
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