OREANDA-NEWS.  April 05, 2012. The General Assembly of the Association Franco-Russian Dialogue held a session at the residence of Russia’s ambassador to France in Paris, reported the press-centre of RZD.

Attending the General Assembly was Vladimir Yakunin, President of Russian Railways and co-president of the Association Franco-Russian Dialogue, Thierry Demarre, Co-president of the Association from the French side, Thierry Mariani, France’s Minister of Transport and Igor Levitin, Russia’s Minister of Transport.

The event was opened by Alexander Orlov, the Russian Federation’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in France.

Vladimir Yakunin gave a speech on the Association’s results in 2011. Addressing the participants of the meeting, Yakunin said:

"We have stepped up the Association’s activities in all areas. We conducted a series of events which earned a great deal of public and media attention, ensured financial support for the Association and attracted the broadest possible range of stakeholders from all levels to take part in the dialogue: government, business, culture and representatives of civil society.

Vladimir Yakunin expressed his gratitude to all the Association’s members for their work. He noted that their efforts were creating a congenial environment for the development of ties and relations between the civil societies of both countries.

Vladimir Yakunin also noted that the Association organised joint Russian-French youth projects and that educational projects were an important part of the dialogue between the young people of both countries In particular, cooperation was developing under the auspices of the Franco-Russian dialogue between St. Petersburg State University and ParisTech (Institut des Sciences et Technologies de Paris), as well as between Rostov State Transport University and the University of Maine in Le Mans.
 
In 2011, the Association conducted exhibitions, concerts and festivals with the participation of Russian and French artists, including the project Stradivarius Dialogue, which was aimed at promoting cross-cultural relations between France and Russia. The project culminated in a gala concert which brought together talented young musicians from France and Russia.
Vladimir Yakunin praised the work during the December 2011 conference "Russia - Europe: Prospects for the Formation of Transport Space," which discussed aspects of transport integration between Russia and Europe.
 
At the conference, a twinning programme of events at stations in Russia and France in 2012 was approved.
 
In addition to the visits of delegations of staff from twinned stations and joint seminars on various aspects of business and passenger services which are scheduled under the programme for 2012, it is also planned to open convenience stores at Russian and French railway stations and produce souvenirs sold under the Russian Railways and SNCF brands.
During the Association’s General Assembly, a new co-president on the French side was elected, with Thierry Mariani, France’s Minister of Transport, replacing Thierry Desmarest, honorary chairman of Total SA.
 
In 2012, under the aegis of the Association Franco-Russian Dialogue, various activities will be held, including a round table on "Russia-France - an Alliance of Civil Societies", a Franco-Russian forum on education, careers and innovation, a conference on the development of the Greater Moscow – Greater Paris megacities, a presentation of Lake Baikal’s tourist potential and the unique route of the Trans-Baikal Railway, musical evenings in Nice with the violinist Yuri Bashmet and other significant social, economic, and cultural events.

During his visit to France, Vladimir Yakunin met Pierre-Antoine Gailly, President of the Paris Chamber of Commerce. During the meeting, it was agreed that the Paris Chamber of Commerce would also participate in the Association Franco-Russian Dialogue.
 
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The Association Franco-Russian Dialogue was established in 2004 in Paris at the suggestion of Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Jacques Chirac. The two presidents took the Association under their personal patronage.
 
The key idea in establishing the Association was to strength and develop dialogue between the civil societies of Russia and France.
The objectives of the Association are to create optimal conditions for a strategic partnership and for industrial, economic and cultural cooperation between Russia and France, as well as for closer bilateral ties in the fields of science, culture, education, tourism and sport.
 
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Long-term partnerships between Russian Railways and a number of French companies exist and are constantly evolving. There is a growing volume of rail passenger traffic between the two countries. In 2011, 5,700 passengers travelled on the Russia - France route, more than twice as many compared with 2010.
 
Two Russian trains now run between Russia - France: Moscow - Nice and Moscow - Paris. At over 3,000km. both of these routes, which are operated by First Passenger Company, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, are the longest in Europe.
 
Container trains carrying freight also run between Russia and France, operating between Brest – Krasnoe - Vorotynsk and back. In 2011, a total of 508 container trains travelled in both directions.

The Directorate of Russian Railways’ Train Stations continues to work closely with the Directorate of Stations and Routes of the national French railways company SNCF in establishing twinning partnerships between the stations of the two countries. Initially, this programme is for five years.

In 2011, five pairs of stations were twinned:

Belarus Station (Moscow) and Paris Est (Gare de l'Est)

Sochi and Nice

Vladivostok and Gare de Marseille-Saint-Charles

Baltic Station (St. Petersburg) and Paris Saint-Lazare

Samara and Toulouse.

It is planned to attract experts from the Station Directorate "Gares & Connexiones" and its affiliates and the companies AREP and A2C, which are SNCF structural units, to participate in the projects of the Directorate of Railway Stations and work on creating transport hubs around railway stations operated by Russian Railways.