Yekaterinburg was visited on February 16-18 by a delegation of the Department for Economic Assistance of the Federal Land of Saxony (Germany). The purpose of the visit is to resume cooperation with the Sverdlovsk region and prepare for the international industrial exhibition INNOPROM-2022. The delegation included Lutz Reinhardt, official representative of the Saxon Economics Department in Russia and the CIS, and Yulia Linevich, project manager.

Cooperation between the two regions has a long history. However, after 2012 economic and business ties between the Urals and Saxony weakened due to political problems, sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic. Currently, ten years later, the federal land of Saxony is once again prepared to develop economic and commercial ties and catch up on lost opportunities.

As part of a two-day visit, guests from Saxony held meetings with the Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation in Yekaterinburg Alexander Kharlov, Deputy Minister International and Foreign Economic Relations Lyudmila Berg, Director of Investment Promotion Agency of the Sverdlovsk Region Mikhail Vasiliev.

The delegation visited industrial enterprises of the Urals to search for potential partners. Representatives of Germany visited LLC "Silur" (Aramil), "Pervouralsk auto-aggregate plant" and "Ural locomotives".

According to Lutz Reinhardt, Saxony is interested in cooperation with the Ural industrial enterprises. During the meeting at Silur LLC, the main areas for effective cooperation were outlined: the development of engineering projects, the supply of raw materials, as well as the adoption of German quality standards.

The top management of Pervouralsk Auto-Aggregate Plant proposed to develop cooperation to improve the skills of the company's employees in order to comply with German quality standards and for investment support. Representatives of Ural Locomotives presented many years of experience with key German companies and discussed the development of partnerships with Germany.

Vice-President of the Ural Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mikhail Kozlov at a meeting with German partners noted that industry is the basis of the region's economy. Despite the different political courses of Russia and the EU, cooperation and business ties between the Urals and German enterprises were practically not interrupted. I am sure that as the epidemiological situation in the world stabilizes and exhibition activities resume, Saxony and the Urals have great potential for the implementation of joint projects,” Mikhail Kozlov emphasized.