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Putin looks forward to ‘restoring full-fledged cooperation’ with Germany

Putin said he was pleased with the fact that "reliable partners continue working in Russia"

Russian President Vladimir Putin and BASF Corporation Head Kurt Bock Mikhail Metzel/TASS

Russian President Vladimir Putin and BASF Corporation Head Kurt Bock

© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/. Moscow hopes to restore interaction with Germany at the previous level, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

"We’re not losing the hope that we’ll be able to restore full-fledged cooperation," the Russian leader said at a meeting with BASF Corporation Head Kurt Bock.

In Putin’s opinion, "the latest events in the economic sphere are affecting mutual trade volumes."

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Putin says he is looking forward to Angela Merkel’s visit

The Russian leader cited the data of the Eastern Committee of the German Economy showing that Germany had lost at least 150,000 jobs.

Putin said he was pleased with the fact that "reliable partners continue working in Russia."

The BASF head said his company had been operating actively on the Russian market for over 140 years and was engaged in projects in the field of chemistry and power engineering.

"The past two years have not been easy but starting from this year we have noted a trend towards growth," Bock said.

‘We’ll be working over the increase of the share of local production [on the territory of Russia]," the BASF head said.

In Putin’s estimate, BASF has "very long-standing and good relations" with Russia and the German company "has long been working [in Russia] and in various spheres."

The BASF chief highlighted chemistry, household chemicals and power engineering as the main areas of the company’s work in Russia, as well as interaction with LUKoil crude oil producer and Gazprom gas giant.

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FACTBOX: Collective Security Treaty Organization

The Collective Security Treaty came into force on April 20, 1994 to herald the emergence what would eventually become the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The six member-countries are Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan

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