MOSCOW, July 27. /TASS/. Lifting of sanctions and counter measures was not discussed directly during the meeting with German Minister of Food and Agriculture Christian Schmidt, Russian Economic Development Minister Akexey Ulyukayev said on Wednesday after the meeting.
"This topic was not discussed directly. Our partners initiated this issue and it is their headache. We are ready to work in the current mode," Ulyukayev said.
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He also noted that it is difficult to accurately calculate the damage suffered by European suppliers from the Russian food embargo, as there are different estimations. "There are many different approaches, there are official statements of the European Union experts that give $5 bln, and expert calculations that provide $40 bln," Ulyukayev said.
Restart of a project on creation of a joint small and medium enterprises (SME) support fund was discussed today at the meeting with Germany’s Minister of Food and Agriculture Christian Schmidt, Alexey Ulyukayev said.
"We talked about the way of supporting cooperation among small and medium enterprises. There was a good project at the appropriate time: German bank KFW and our Vnesheconombank created a joint fund to support cooperation among small and medium businesses of Germany and Russia. The project was frozen because of known reasons. We spoke about the ways of rehabilitating it," Ulyukayev said.
Stirrup of mutual trade was also discussed during the today’s meeting, the Russian Minister said. The mercantile trade between Russian and Germany sustains a major decline in the last two years, Ulyukayev said. It fell 35% in 2015 and already 23% this year, he added.