Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on 9 November urged German giant Siemens AG to forge a “strategic” partnership with state nuclear firm Rosatom. “It’s important that special relations appear between your company and Rosatom,” Putin said during a meeting with Siemens AG CEO Peter Loescher. “In essence, it’s a strategic partnership. This is especially important ahead of the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen. I believe that German and Russian partners should make a substantial contribution to the international community’s environmental protection efforts.”
Putin first said in January that Siemens and Rosatom, both major players on world nuclear markets, had pledged to look at closer cooperation. At the meeting with Putin on 9 November, Loescher said that talks were progressing. “On the whole, the discussions are going well,” Loescher said during the portion of the meeting at which reporters were present. “We’ve had relations of high trust.”
Putin and Loescher met only recently during the 21 October meeting with German business leaders organized by the German Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations.