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Colleagues, friends, it is a pleasure to meet again with members 

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of the Economic Council of the Franco-Russian Chamber 

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of Commerce and Industry.

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Last time, in May 2016, we had a productive discussion of the prospects 

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for developing trade and investment cooperation and links 

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between Russia and France.

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Your recommendations turned out to be very helpful and we took many 

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of them into consideration while working in the economic field 

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and establishing economic policy rules.

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For this reason, I would suggest organising our conversation 

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in the same business-like manner and discussing issues that concern you 

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as our partners, investors and entrepreneurs who have long been working 

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in Russia and who are interested in continuing to do 

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business in our country.

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I would like to emphasise that we see France as one of Russia’s key 

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partners in Europe, we intend to develop our dialogue with your country 

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on all bilateral and international issues on a pragmatic 

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and equal footing. We certainly pay attention to trade and economic 

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cooperation. I would like to note that in the first 11 months of 2017 

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bilateral trade grew by 15 percent.

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France’s accumulated capital investment in Russia has 

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reached almost $14 billion.

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Over 500 French companies operate in many sectors of our economy: car 

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manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, food production, retail trade, and more.

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Energy cooperation has strategic importance for bilateral relations.

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French companies have been granted access to the Russian energy market.

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ENGIE plans to take part in the construction of Nord Stream 2 alongside Gazprom. 

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Total helped build the Yamal LNG plant.

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We welcome French corporations willing to set up manufacturing 

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in Russia and place orders with our SMEs.

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Renault operates assembly plants in Moscow,

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Togliatti and Izhevsk.

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The retailer Auchan is investing in processing Russian 

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agricultural produce.

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There are also great investment opportunities for our 

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French partners in the innovations sector.

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The Digital Economy programme was adopted in Russia with the view 

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to improving the digital business environment.

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Schneider Electric is already involved in its implementation by opening 

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R&D centres in the Skolkovo and Innopolis technology parks.

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We will continue supporting forward-looking projects of this kind.

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We expect new trade and investment contracts to be signed at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in May 2018.

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We hope to see a high-profile delegation of top corporate executives 

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representing French manufacturers and financial institutions.

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We will be glad to see all of you in St Petersburg.

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Friends, Russia is proactive in its efforts to improve 

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macroeconomic stability. GDP increased by 1.4 percent in 2018, 

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while the inflation rate was at its record-low 

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of 2.5 percent. The decelerating trend is expected to spill over into 2018. 

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Foreign trade is rapidly increasing.

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In January-November 2017 it surged by 25 percent.

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Foreign currency reserves have been growing lately,

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reaching 442.8 billion dollars.

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Foreign direct investment in the non-financial sector in the first 

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three quarters of 2017 amounted to 23 billion dollars,

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which is double the amount in the same period of 2016,

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and the highest result over the last four years.

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We continue to work on ways to cut red tape,

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simplify customs procedures and expand companies’ access to loans.

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Thanks to these measures, Russia has risen to 35th place on the World Bank’ Ease of Doing Business Index.

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I would like you to note that France is ranked 31st.

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If we keep performing like this, we will catch up with you soon,

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I hope. And then working in Russia will be more comfortable 

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than in France.

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Anyway, we have moved ahead of not just all the CIS 

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countries but also several EU states.

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We do care for the opinion of our foreign partners regarding our 

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efforts to improve the business climate in Russia.

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Frankly, there is still much to be done in this sphere.

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This is why I suggest that we start our discussion.

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But first I would like to give the floor to Gennady Timchenko,

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Co-chair of the Economic Council of the Franco-Russian Chamber 

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of Commerce and Industry, and then to Emmanuel Quidet,

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President of the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce 

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and Industry. Please.

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Thank you, Mr President.

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First of all, I would like to thank you on behalf of the Economic 

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Council and French business leaders for this opportunity to have 

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a second meeting with you in this format.

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As the Co-chair of the Chamber’s Economic Council,

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I would like to provide several figures to illustrate the relations 

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between Russia and France as well as between their business communities.

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For example, there are some 1200 companies with French 

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capital in Russia now.

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They are leaders on the Russian market in this sense.

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As for the number of jobs created at companies with French capital,

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there are over 150,000 such jobs in Russia.

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By the way, there are representatives from Renault and AvtoVAZ here.

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They have over 50,000 workers.

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Another major company, Auchan, employs over 43,000 people. 

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And the other companies represented here employ 

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tens of thousands of workers.

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Since 2014, for three consecutive years,

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French companies have been number one in terms of direct 

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investment in Russia.

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You have said that the overall investment has reached 14 billion,

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but it is also important that French companies invest two 

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billion or over two billion every year.

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In the constantly changing economic and foreign policy environment,

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we see that French companies are willing to adapt,

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and some companies are beginning to set up enterprises and fully 

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localise their manufacturing in Russia.

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Specifically, Saint-Gobain already operates nine production facilities 

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in Russia, they are up and running,

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and the production has been localised.

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In addition to this, these companies are beginning to export their 

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products from Russia, which is an important trend.

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Cars are one such product.

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But there is also Sanofi, which exports insulin made 

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in Russia, as well as cosmetic products.

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These volumes are increasing by the year.

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Let me highlight an important detail: the French companies have crossed 

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a mental boundary and now invest in enterprises to the east 

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of the Urals as well as in Russia’s Far East,

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which is essential for the development of this region.

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I would once again like to point out the Yamal LNG project,

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since I was personally involved in it.

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Thank you so much for attending the opening ceremony.

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We are now in talks, including with Total,

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on the second construction phase and an even larger project 

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called Arctic LNG-2. We are hard at work,

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and I hope that the French companies will remain proactive 

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on the Russian market.

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Thank you.

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I just had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Belgium,

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where we discussed ways to expand cooperation with this country.

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There is a project to expand the capacity of the port in order to be 

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able to ship larger volumes from Yamal LNG.

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You all know very well that the shipments have begun.

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The first tanker has already docked in the United States.

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Yes, the market has taken notice,

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but we want to keep a low profile, as we need to be cautious.

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This has already been reported by the media, and you are still cautious.

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Good for you. I am not a businessman,

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so I think that speaking about it would not do any harm.

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Please, Mr Quidet.

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Mr President, thank you for holding this meeting with us today,

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specifically, for finding the time to meet with French business 

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leaders. We are also grateful to the Economic Development Ministry,

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the Industry Ministry together with the Foreign Ministry 

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for organising this event.

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As you said, 1,200 French companies are working in Russia and many 

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French companies have their branches here.

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There are also very many French individuals who have come to Russia 

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in order to open their companies here.

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There is a cultural reason for this number of French investors.

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No other nation is closer to France than Russia.

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It is said that the French are bad tempered Russians.

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But I think we have many more things in common than this.

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This meeting is very important to us,

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because it comes after your meetings with President Macron and is 

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in keeping with the policy set out in Versailles,

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contacts between Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin 

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and French Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire,

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as well as Mr Macron’s intention to attend the St Petersburg 

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International Economic Forum, which, we hope, will materialise.

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Of course, I will give the floor to representatives of French 

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companies, which is our main task today.

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However, actually, we would like to see practical measures 

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taken following this gathering.

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If possible, we would like to have a minute of your time in the future 

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to see what has been done following this event.

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In fact, much has been already done thanks to our previous meeting.

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In other words, we will be able to move forward based 

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on what we discuss here.

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Once again, thank you very much, Mr President.