The tenth round of Russian-German intergovernmental consultations, with the participation of President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev and Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, put the emphasis on diversifying economic ties, carrying out innovative projects and developing the two countries’ scientific and technical cooperation potential. Speaking at a press conference later, Mr Medvedev said the Russian-German consultations are a unique and useful mechanism.
Several bilateral agreements were signed earlier in the day at the Petersburg Dialogue Forum. Representatives of Russia’s Gazprom and Germany’s E.ON Ruhrgas AG signed an agreement on joint development of the Yuzhnorussky oil and gas field in the presence of Mr Medvedev and Ms Merkel. Also signed were an agreement on setting up a Russian-German institute of science and technology, a declaration on cooperation in building and operation the European acceleration centre for ion and anti-proton intensification, and an inter-ministerial action programme for intensifying bilateral cooperation in the healthcare sector.