On Friday, Dmitry Medvedev met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The two leaders had a productive discussion and expressed support for the idea of a global economic charter. They also discussed the potential take-over of Opel by the consortium of Russian Sberbank and Canadian Magna Corporation.
Prior to the informal talks with the Chancellor, the President played a game of badminton with Prime Minister Putin. Armed with rackets, they retreated to the gym, accompanied by the President's golden retriever Aldo. While the game lasted only 10 minutes, Aldo managed to take a decisive lead, catching almost all shuttlecocks.
Realizing the futility of competing with the dog, the leaders quickly wrapped up the game and headed to the waterfront for a cup of tea. As for Aldo, he proceeded to the press-centre, where the surprised journalists fondly talked to and patted the dog.
"Let me have a picture with the President's dog!" - everyone wanted to be photographed with Aldu, and the person walking the dog even had to keep him away from the crowd.
President Medvedev and Chancellor Merkel arrived for the joint press-conference in an open electric car with Medvedev at the wheel.
"We have discussed Iran's nuclear programme and other troublesome regions, including North Korea. We need to continue our cooperation on Afghanistan. This is an example of the close cooperation that we have established with our German partners, other European nations, and the United States," the President said.
Russia also backs the idea of a global economic charter, proposed by Angela Merkel to help avert future economic crises. "We believe that this is a very sensible idea, which could become a basis for further discussion. All of this serves as a foundation, based on which we can move forward," President Medvedev said.
The two leaders also discussed the situation in the automobile industry. The Russian-Canadian consortium has yet to acquire Opel, but Angela Merkel has already expressed her support for the deal. President Medvedev said that the deal would help Russia to diversify its economy.
Russia and Germany also have a shared interest in the Nord Stream gas pipeline.
"The southerly Nabucco and South Stream pipelines have been making progress, and of course, we would like to see similar progress in the north as well," Chancellor Merkel said.
Another joint Russian-German business project involves the shipyards in Wismar and Varnemunde. The current owner of the shipyards, the Wadan Yards company, is facing bankruptcy, but there are potential investors willing to buy it. As reported on the eve of the summit, the President's special representative for international energy cooperation Igor Yusufov and his son Vitaly are willing to pay 40.5 million Euros for the shipyards.
Following the official negotiations, Chancellor Merkel and President Medvedev had dinner at a Sochi restaurant; the German leader departed the city the same evening.
Opel not for sale again
"Along with GM management, we have prepared an agreement, which is ready to be signed," Magna Board Co-Chairman Siegfried Wolf told Frankfurter Allgemeine precisely on the eve of the summit in Sochi. As it turned out later, it was a hasty statement. GM has not yet decided whether to sell Opel to the Russian-German Magna-Sberbank consortium or the Belgian RHJ fund.
"We are preparing materials for the GM Board of Directors meeting," said John Smith, overseeing Opel's sale negotiations for GM. According to Smith, there is still a lot to be discussed and implemented before the agreement is concluded. But, as previously reported by Izvestia, the German government has already made its choice in favor of the Magna-Sberbank consortium.
Syuzanna Farizova