Last updated in October 2009
Political relations
German-Russian relations are developing in a positive and dynamic manner. Mutual interest is keen and bilateral cooperation is close. This is reflected in the annual intergovernmental consultations, the most recent of which were held on 16 July 2009 in Munich, as well as in the regular visits in both directions in the political, economic and cultural sectors.
Russia sees Germany as a leading European partner, its most important one in economic terms. Germany has a strong interest in integrating the Russian Federation into the European and global economy and supports the process of transition in Russia. The prospect of a strategic partnership with Russia also entails frank, constructive and critical dialogue on differences (freedom of the press, human rights) as well as cooperation on a German-Russian modernization partnership in the following sectors: health care and demographics, basic and further education and training, energy, transport infrastructure and logistics, and the rule of law.
Economic relations
Germany is Russia’s most important trading partner. In the first six months of 2009, the volume of trade between the two countries shrank by 36.1 per cent compared with the same period in the previous year, to EUR 20.8 billion. German exports to Russia also fell in the same period by approximately 39.92 per cent, to EUR 9.6 billion. Russia’s principal exports are raw materials and the country is Germany’s principal supplier of energy. Germany, for its part, mainly exports machinery, motor vehicles, chemical products, electricity generation equipment, medical products and agricultural produce. German companies, including many small and medium-sized enterprises, have made substantial investments in Russia. In terms of aggregate direct investments, Germany ranked fifth with approximately USD 6.8 billion, after the Netherlands, Cyprus, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. Despite the current crisis, Russia will remain an important and attractive market for German companies in the medium and long term. Besides the major German energy companies, it is mainly automobile manufacturers and suppliers, plant constructors, companies operating in the agricultural sector and the large retail chains that are active there.
Justice and home affairs
A mutual visa facilitation agreement between the European Union and the Russian Federation came into force on 1 June 2007. For many citizens, this agreement reduces the number of documents that have to be presented when applying for a visa, enables a greater number of one-year and several-year visas to be issued and extends the group of those exempt from visa fees. An agreement between the European Union and the Russian Federation on the readmission of unlawful migrants also came into force on 1 June 2007. This agreement regulates the mutual return of foreign nationals illegally residing on the territory of the EU or the Russian Federation. An important instrument of cooperation are the German-Russian consular consultations. During the December 2008 consultations, it was agreed to hold them on a regular basis. This means that there is now a platform which the two countries can make active use of to promote practical cooperation in consular matters and on policy pertaining to the treatment of aliens.
Cultural relations
In recent years, German-Russian cultural relations have gained momentum, extending to the regional centres outside Moscow and St. Petersburg. The cultural cooperation agreement between the governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Russian Federation, which was signed on 16 December 1992, forms a contractual basis for cultural relations between the two countries.
The 2003/2004 German-Russian cultural exchanges have helped deepen the relations between German and Russian society and have resulted in many ongoing contacts.
In foreign language teaching, German, though losing ground, occupies second place behind English. An intergovernmental agreement on learning the partner country’s language was concluded in 2003. There are currently some 12,000 young Russians studying at German universities. The agreement on cooperation in youth policy, which entered into force in October 2005 and is implemented through national coordination offices in Hamburg and Moscow, puts bilateral school and youth exchange on a broader footing.
In April 2005, a Joint Declaration on a Strategic Partnership in Education, Research and Innovation was signed. The Goethe Institute is active in many parts of Russia, above all in Moscow, St. Petersburg and – since the spring of 2009 – in Novosibirsk, where it has its own offices. Numerous other German cultural organizations are also represented. The restitution of German cultural property taken to Russia during the war is an issue that has yet to be settled.
German minority
The programmes designed to foster the cultural identity of Russians of ethnic German origin, which are funded by the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Federal Foreign Office, include social assistance and community support measures.
The Russian Federation has adopted the new Programme for the Development of the Social, Economic and Ethno-Cultural Potential of Ethnic German Russians 2008-2012. It lists as its primary objectives the social and economic improvement of this group’s living situation, improvement of its infrastructure and social institutions and “support of its ethno-cultural potential”. The programme’s regional focus is on the German minority’s major settlement areas in the Volga region and Siberia.
