OREANDA-NEWS. CCI of Russia Vice-President Georgy Petrov has met with Montenegrin Ambassador to Russia Zoran Jocovic at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Russia. Representatives of the CCI of Russia Department for External Relations and Liaison with Business Councils attended the meeting.

Russia and Montenegro have long-standing relations, Georgy Petrov said as he opened the meeting. The close relations have been given a fresh impetus in the recent years. Montenegro is a popular destination of Russian tourists and many Russians have property there.

Speaking of Russian-Montenegrin trade and economic relations, the Chamber Vice-President noted the narrow range of commodities in bilateral trade, which made it dependent on shipments of one or two main types of goods. Trade fluctuations primarily result from instability of exports of Russian aluminum to Montenegro, which results from the rather unfavorable situation on the European aluminum market and the shortage of low-cost electricity. Russian-Montenegrin trade stood at approximately USD 160 million in 2007 and only USD 37 million in 2012, mostly Russian exports, Georgy Petrov said.

Inter-chamber contacts have been spurred on with a cooperation agreement, Georgy Petrov said. Yet development of bilateral trade requires more intensive exchange of information about each other’s capacities and involvement of regions in that process, he said. The Volgograd and Penza Chambers are working on that. Georgy Petrov assured Zoran Jocovic that the CCI of Russia was ready for the most active cooperation with Montenegrin colleagues in many areas. In conclusion he wished broader presence of Montenegrin agricultural products at specialized exhibitions, among them the Prodexpo international exhibition of food, beverages and raw materials.

The Montenegrin Ambassador to Russia thanked the CCI of Russia for the cordial welcome and assured the Chamber that he would do everything in his power to develop trade and economic relations between Montenegro and Russia. He also called for intensifying the exchange of information about economic and investment options in both countries. He said that main sectors of the national economy were tourism and agriculture. Montenegro may offer meat products (pork and beef) and coffee to Russian buyers. In order to accelerate business relations Zoran Jocovic proposed a meeting of businessmen to select products, which might be of interest to the Russian market.

In turn CCI of Russia Vice-President Georgy Petrov proposed holding an online seminar for Russian regions to display the economic, investment and tourist potential of Montenegro.