Today, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will address the fourth annual economic forum of CEOs and top managers of leading German companies in Berlin. In an article published in yesterday's issue of Die Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Putin proposed a large-scale economic partnership with the European Union. The proposal includes visa-free Russian-EU traffic and the creation of a joint energy complex.
"Russia is not interested in a weak or disunited European Union because it would indirectly diminish Russia's international influence and would also reduce our ability to rely on a partner with similar and often coinciding interests," Vladimir Putin wrote.
"What do we propose? We propose the creation of a cooperative economic community from Lisbon to Vladivostok. In effect, we would create a common continental market worth trillions of euros," the prime minister wrote.
Putin noted, however, that genuine continental partnership was impossible unless barriers hindering human and financial interaction – primarily the visa barrier – were eliminated. "We believe that visa-free traffic should become the initial, rather than final, stage of a real Russia-EU integration process," Putin stressed.
According to the prime minister, it would then be appropriate "to remove all remaining obstacles hindering Russia's accession to the World Trade Organisation and to standardise legislation and customs-clearance procedures, as well as technical regulations." Finally, the sides should draft a common industrial policy based on a combination of production and resource potentials.
"The idea of creating a common European energy complex is virtually knocking at the door," Putin said. The issue of Russian-EU energy cooperation was excessively politicised in the past few years. But all these "far-fetched problems" should become irrelevant after commissioning the Nord Stream and South Stream gas pipelines, which Russia hopes will provide Europe with a diversified and flexible gas-supply system.
In his Sueddeutsche Zeitung article, Putin criticised the Third Energy Package, which stipulates separate policies for gas sales and transportation. "Despite its good intentions, it poses serious risks for the European energy system and undermines the incentive for investors to finance new projects. Consequently, the next few years may see a rundown infrastructure, energy shortages, and high prices for European consumers, rather than a competitive market. By pooling our efforts, we would be able to trade in energy resources, exchange assets, and work hand in hand at all stages of development – from prospecting operations and the production of energy resources to their delivery to consumers," Putin wrote.
Anastasia Savinykh