Martin Kuba, the Minister of Industry and Trade, supported deepening of economic relations with Tatarstan.
On the occasion of a meeting of Rustam Minnichanov Innichanov, the President of Tatarstan, Minister of Industry and Trade Martin Kuba supported further deepening of mutual economic relations between the Czech Republic and this economically important region, which is a part of the Russian Federation. Mr. Kuba supported the commitment of Czech companies in Tatarstan and at the same time called for increased activity of Tatar companies in the Czech Republic. President Minnichanov confirmed his interest in cooperation especially in the area of engineering, education and science.
The visit of President Minnichanov to the Czech Republic followed up on last autumn’s visit of the Czech minister to Kazan. Mr. Kuba led the Czech mission at that time, which returned with business deals worth almost two billion CZK.
“Cooperation with Russian regions is very important for the Czech Republic. It is necessary to continuously support and develop further deepening of economic relations with Tatarstan. The volume of total Czech export to the Russian Federation and its continuous growth are the evidence. However, we want companies from Tatarstan to be interested in investment possibilities in the Czech Republic”, the Minister of Industry and Trade clarified.
President Minnichanov has already had some experience with the Czech Republic and Czech entrepreneurs, some joint projects have been implemented or prepared in Tatarstan.
“Our interest in the Czech Republic has a system character. Success is guaranteed by our personal commitment. Prior to my visit of the Czech Republic I visited your president, the president of the Chamber, two ministers of industry and trade, many entrepreneurs and also many entrepreneurs visited Tatarstan. The interest of closer cooperation is proven by a common team for coordination of economic cooperation, a regular airline, operation of a Czech visa center in Kazan as well as direct representation of Tatarstan in the Czech Republic,“ said President Minnichanov during negotiations with Minister Kuba.
The visit of the Tatarstan delegation led by the President Minnichanov included the signing of many cooperation agreements, visit to the Senate, visit to the Temelín nuclear power plant, engineering factories, universities, technology centres and parks both in Prague and South Bohemia or Brno. One of the visited engineering plants was also the South-Bohemian MOTOR JIKOV GROUP.
“I am pleased that the President of Tatarstan found time to visit the MOTOR JIKOV GROUP company. We spoke about business relations and possible cooperation on some projects, the automotive industry and CNG alternative fuel being among the crucial topics (editor’s note: MOTOR JIKOV GROUP develops, produces and offers refuelling appliances from 5 to 100 m3 of compressed natural gas),“ Miroslav Dvořák, the Chairman of the Board and General Director of MOTOR JIKOV Group said about the visit. Within his visit, President Minnichanov visited plants in the České Budějovice region.
The Russian Federation is and important economic partner for the Czech Republic. Mutual business has been increasing every year, in 2012 it achieved its greatest volumes. Total turnover reached over 14 billion dollars last year, which is an increase of six per cent compared to the previous year. Of this figure, Czech export was over six billion dollars (increase by 17.5 per cent). In terms of turnover and import, the Russian Federation is the fifth most important partner for the Czech Republic, in terms of export it holds the seventh position.
