Opening this economic forum, which pooled more than 200 business people from the two countries, Russia's trade representative for Croatia and Slovenia Vyacheslav Dmitriyev said that yesterday's fourth session of the Croatian-Russian Inter-government Commission was the most important event for the future intensifying of bilateral cooperation.
The session addressed the repayment of Russia's US$185 million debt to Croatia through the provision of equipment for thermoelectric power plants in Sisak and Osijek and equipment for the construction of a gas pipe line running to the border with Hungary, as well as the provision of two fire-fighting BE-200 aircraft.
Settling the debt will improve possibilities of using cooperation potential that has not been used so far in shipbuilding, pharmaceutical, construction and tourism industries, Dmitriyev said.
He went on to say that power production was the most attractive field of cooperation, singling out the DruzbaAdria project and the interest of the Russian Rosneft oil company in bilateral projects in the gas industry.
So far power production has accounted for almost 90 percent of bilateral trade. Overall trade between the two countries in the first seven months of this year totalled US$512.6 million. Croatia's exports increased by 52.6 percent from last year to 48.08 million dollars, while imports from Russia rose by 74.6 percent to 464.5 million.
Oil, gas and other energy products account for almost 90 percent of imports from Russia, while Croatia's exports to Russia are mostly telecommunications and pharmaceutical products.
Dmitriyev said an important area of cooperation was construction, with Croatian construction services in Russia totalling around 100 million dollars.
The large number of Russian business people attending this year's Zagreb Fair bears witness to their growing interest in cooperation, he said.
Russia is represented by 36 exhibitors, a delegation consisting of representatives from the ministry of economy and economy and trade chambers, and some 200 business people.