Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker and Finance Minister Luc Frieden met Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Sochi, 24th August 2010.
On the agenda of the meeting that took place at the summer residency of the Russian Federation President were, among others topics, bilateral questions, economic and financial governance, relations between the European Union and Russia, as well as the European security architecture, including NATO and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).
The meeting in Sochi took place in a very warm atmosphere on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Luxembourg. M. Juncker underlined the importance of Luxembourg investments in Russia. The volume of investments rose up to 28 bln Euro which puts Luxembourg on the 3rd place of the countries actively investing in Russia. "I am sure that our relationship which has been developing remarkably in the past will continue developing following the same scenario", affirmed, from his side, the Russian Head of State, Dmitry Medvedev.
The discussions were devoted to the strengthening of bilateral relations. M. Juncker and M. Frieden presented to President Medvedev an aide-memoire with proposals from Luxembourg regarding the modernization process in Russia, initiated by President Dmitry Medvedev. According to the statements of M. Juncker the two countries will work together to strengthen bilateral relations especially in the areas of finance, metallurgy, energy, automobile industry and hi-tech.
Regarding financial sector, M. Juncker suggested that Luxembourg contributes to the development of Moscow as an international financial centre through the main Luxembourg state players. Highlighting the importance of Moscow as a financial center he proposed to use the Luxembourg financial center as a entry door to the international finance.
M. Juncker emphasized Luxembourg's long tradition in metallurgy and willingness to share its unique technological know-how with Russia for the purpose of modernization of the Russian metallurgy. In accordance with M. Juncker the two countries should cooperate closer in the automobile sector as well. There are a significant number of Luxembourg companies actively working in this area. Those companies are mostly highly specialized.
In the course of meetings the two Ministers of Finance have also accomplished important progress regarding modifications to the double taxation treaty, especially concerning the taxation of dividends and the exchange of information between fiscal administrations.
Moreover they agreed to conclude a memorandum of understanding to strengthen collaboration between banking surveillance authorities.
