Norway and Russia - strengthened relationship

Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov visited Norway for three days at the end of February. The occasion was the fourteenth meeting of the Norwegian-Russian Government Commission. During his visit Zubkov had several meetings with Minister of Trade and Industry Trond Giske.

- Russia is a very important economic partner for Norway. Russia and Norway already collaborate in a number of industries like the maritime and marine sector, hotel management, energy cooperation, banking and finance, fisheries, aquaculture and tourism. Russia is also our geographical neighbor, and close co-operation in the northern region is of high priority, Giske said.

During the meeting of the Government Commision in Oslo on February 28th, a number of documents were signed:

• Declaration on Partnership for modernization, as an appendix to the minutes of the commission meeting
• Plan for follow-up of a joint declaration on strengthening the Norwegian-Russian border cooperation
• Norwegian-Russian intergovernmental agreement on the status of the border area Storskog-Borisoglebsk

- These are all documents that are important to confirm and strengthen our ties with Russia, Giske said.
 
Facts
• Trade between Norway and Russia in 2010 amounted to about 17 billion kroner, up 33 per cent from the year before.
• Seafood is Norway’s largest export product. Russia, and France, are now Norway’s most important market for fish and seafood.
• In 2010, seafood exports from Norway totaled 5.2 billion kroner.
• The most important product imported from Russia to Norway is aluminum.
• About 70 Norwegian companies are represented in the Russian market.
• About 20 Norwegian companies operate in Murmansk. 

More photos from the meeting can be viewed on NHD’s account on Flickr.