Putin to open in Paris Russia national exhibition

PARIS, June 11 (Itar-Tass) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
will open in Paris on Friday the Russian national exhibition. French Prime
Minister Francois Fillon will take part in the opening ceremony at the
Grand Palais palace that will become one of the most important of the
Russia-France Cross Year. French President Nicolas Sarkozy will receive
the Russian government head at the Elysee Palace in the afternoon.
The Russian national exhibition is to be held in Paris for the first
time over the past 50 years. The exhibition space of the Grand Palais
(almost 77,000 square metres) are given to the leading Russian partners -
15 regions, including Moscow and St. Petersburg and companies in the
leading sectors. A wide range of innovations will be presented by the
Russian Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos), the Irkut, Sukhoi, Russian
Helicopters, Rostekhnologii, AvtoVAZ and Russian Railways (RZD) companies.
"The most important task is to demonstrate the achievements in the
development of our cooperation, assist the development of trade-economic
and investment interaction between Russia and France," the RF government's
press service said. "Special attention will be given to the development of
partnership between scientific and cultural centres. The Russian Academy
of Sciences will present the results of fundamental research, including
those conducted together with the French Academy of Sciences in the field
of energy saving and environmental protection," the press service said.
Putin will hold a conversation at the Grand Palais with Total Director
General Christophe de Margerie.
"We pin big hopes on the current strengthening of our relations,"
Minister of State for Foreign Trade Foreign Trade Anne-Marie Idrac said.
France is involved in many projects on the Russian market, including in
the automobile industry. Idrac noted "growing interaction in space
exploration, which will result in Russian rocket launches from Kourou."
The forthcoming Russian-French contacts will give additional dynamics
to the bilateral economic partnership, believes First Vice President of
the ruling Union for a Popular Movement Jean-Pierre Raffarin. "The fact
that Russia today is becoming one of the leading generators of economic
growth is positive not only for it, but also for France," he noted. "We
have managed to develop good cooperation, including in such a complicated
issue as the provision of energy resources," he added.
There are no problems between France and Russia that would impede the
development of ties, believes the official. According to him, the side
have already managed to ease the mutual travel of businessmen, artists,
athletes, and in the future will be able to make a transition to a
visa-free regime. "The issue of visa cancellation will be certainly
settled," Raffarin is certain.
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