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French lawmaker says none of French companies quit Russia due to sanctions

France is the second biggest foreign investor in Russia
Thierry Mariani EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT
Thierry Mariani
© EPA/ETIENNE LAURENT

MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/. Not a single one out of 1,200 French companies has quit the Russian market, despite all difficulties, Thierry Mariani, a member of the French National Assembly and coordinator of the group of friendship with the Russian parliament, said on Friday.

"A total of 1,200 French companies are operating in Russia, Despite the difficulties, not a single one of them has quit Russia," Mariani, who leads a French parliamentary delegation, said at a meeting with speaker of the Russian State Duma lower parliament house Sergey Naryshkin. "And the first message our businessmen want to convey to all lawmakers is that all these sanctions are useless and silly."

He said French businessmen had opted to stay in Russia not only due to economic considerations but also because they believed in the future of the Russian-French relations.

In this context, he reminded that France was the second biggest foreign investor in Russia. "Our abandoning this cooperation would be a too big favour for some of our ‘friends,’" he underscored.