MOSCOW, September 23. /TASS/. Russian companies would be willing to cooperate with German businesses in such areas as mechanical engineering, equipment manufacturing, and technology, Russian presidential envoy for relations with international organizations Boris Titov, said at a meeting with the heads of member companies of the Russian-German Chamber of Commerce.
"Of course, Russian companies would be happy to continue cooperation with German partners, especially in mechanical engineering, equipment supply and production, and technology," he said.
Titov added that the Russian authorities are also open to discussing the return of foreign businesses.
However, strict sanctions and the fear of being punished in Europe are holding back many foreign companies, he noted.
"Under these conditions, Russia is switching to Chinese suppliers and suppliers from other countries. As it turns out, this is often at least as good in quality, and significantly cheaper," he said adding that "rediscovering the potential of Russian-German cooperation will be difficult."
"The West is clearly losing the competition. As we see, the process is difficult, but the Russian side is considering restoring economic cooperation even under difficult conditions. Of course, similar efforts from the German side would be important," Titov noted.