Translated material
Gallant disputes
The delegation led by Viktor Zubkov kindly discussed trade disagreements in France
Strikes in France, Paris seething with bicycles, roller skates and scooters, reminiscent of some large eastern capital with its chaos of traffic... “The difficult fate of a Russian correspondent threw us into this stronghold of capitalism”, “irritated faces of Parisians forced to travel for hours in the cold to get to work and at home” - this is how, it seems, television reports from the West began in Soviet times. The current visit of Russian Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov to France, which took place on Friday, seemed to return to the past. Nevertheless, the French leadership, extremely concerned about internal problems, showed every kind of affection to the Russians.Despite the traffic jams in the city, the Russian Prime Minister's motorcade was able to move without any significant disruption to the schedule. And French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in violation of all protocols, personally came out to meet Mr. Zubkov. And again, he personally presented the Order of the Legion of Honor to Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Naryshkin, despite the usual procedure when the prime minister does this. Nicolas Sarkozy, addressing Mr. Naryshkin with solemn words, said: “You have accumulated a wealth of experience, in particular you worked with the President of Russia, Mr. Putin, and you had many positions. It is an honor for us that you are, on the Russian side, the chairman of the Russian-French Economic, Trade and Industrial Council. It is an honor to honor you as a statesman and friend of France."
Our Deputy Prime Minister, moved, emphasized that Russia and France, of course, “are connected by something more than economic usefulness and political expediency.” Observers noted that Sarkozy and Naryshkin even outwardly complemented each other well. And French diplomats predicted a bright political future for the Russian “vice.” Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, in turn, presented two Orders of Friendship to the head of Gaz de France, Jean-François Cirelli, and the honorary president of the National Cancer Institute, David Hayat.
At negotiations with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, Mr. Zubkov continued the ceremonial part of the visit, signing a document on holding the Year of Russia in France in 2010. Diplomats from the Russian delegation argue that this event should bring us closer than ever.
And while a final rapprochement has not occurred, at the 12th meeting of the intergovernmental Russian-French commission, which the French simply call a “seminar,” Prime Minister Zubkov had to sort out some differences. In particular, the Russian side compromised and lifted the ban on the export of French breeding cattle to our country, which the French Prime Minister announced with pleasure: “We have achieved the lifting of the embargo on the supply of our beef.” One of the members of the Russian delegation, Minister of Agriculture Alexei Gordeev, confirmed: “Yes, we made such a decision because we believe that there are no risks now. Livestock no longer suffer from mad cow disease. And in Russia there is not enough breeding stock. We will partially solve the problems by supplying it from France.”
However, Mr Gordeev, in the run-up to France's EU presidency in the second half of 2008, added a political statement to the economic compromise solution. Russia will continue state support for agriculture and will defend its position in negotiations on Russia’s accession to the World Trade Organization. According to the minister, this is “not only possible, but also justified.” And “the volume of support (for Russian agriculture - Ed. ) of $9 billion is disproportionately less than what the European Union allows itself.”
The most important issue for the Russians in negotiations with the French continues to be the topic of supplies of Russian nuclear fuel to Europe. Today, the EU market is governed by an agreement concluded on the island of Corfu in 1994 between the leading European suppliers of this product. It expires on December 1, 2007. And, of course, I really want the new agreement to take our interests into account. But since the French are the leaders in Europe in the supply of nuclear fuel, they are our main competitors and opponents. And, ironically, it is they who we are forced to ask to be let into our chicken coop. The head of Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, believes that Russia has the prospect of expanding its supplies of nuclear fuel to the European market. Sergei Naryshkin spoke about such opportunities in vague terms: “Our persistent wishes are met with real understanding.” And Prime Minister Zubkov tried not to push this topic. He is confident that Russian-French relations will “gain new dimensions” when France heads the EU for six months.
During Mr. Zubkov's visit, an agreement was also signed between the Russian Development Bank (VEB) and BNP Paribas to provide the Russian bank with a credit line of 300 million euros. The agreement to provide a credit line was signed on Friday by VEB Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev and BNP Paribas General Director Georges Chaudron de Courcelles. Under the terms of the agreement, the funds can be used to finance the purchase of goods and services produced in Western Europe by Russian importers, with the provision of loan insurance coverage from leading European export credit agencies. INTERFAX-AFI