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Ambassador Soare to struggle to boost bilateral dialogue, economic and energy cooperation with Russia
Diplomat Vasile Soare, who is to take up post as Romanian ambassador in Moscow, told Agerpres in an interview that he will struggle to boost the Romanian-Russian dialogue and bolster the economic and energy cooperation.
Soare also made an analysis of the current phase in the bilateral relations and underscored the need to balance the commercial balance by increasing the Romanian exports to the Russian market.
He stressed this year marks the 10th anniversary of signing the Basic Political Treaty between Romania and the Russian Federation and 135 years since the establishment of the diplomatic relations between the two countries and pointed out there are few countries that can boast such a long-time tradition of the bilateral relations, in this part of the world at least.
The ambassador believes that the bilateral relations today are at a good moment, 'one of relative openness from both sides'. 'There have been a few actions this year that have yielded satisfactory results. There is room for more, of course, both as regards the political dialogue, the economic cooperation and on the horizontal direction - between various institutions and areas in Romania and the Russian Federation', he said, while adding it seems crucial to him the fact that 'in this openness, both sides actually have voiced readiness for holding a dialogue also on topics on which the sides' positions do not coincide'.
The Romanian diplomat has set such goals for his Moscow mandate as: boosting the political dialogue, bolstering the economic cooperation, with emphasis on stimulating the Romanian exports to the Russian market, developing the cooperation on culture and education, promoting a fair image of Romania in Russia, in keeping with the current realities.
He argued that a solid Romanian-Russian relation also entails tackling the Republic of Moldova topic and said that both sides, at the last visit, had underscored the importance of respecting Moldova's sovereignty and territorial integrity, which he says is ‘a correct position.
Soare said the Russian companies are well represented in Romania and he cited the aluminium industry, the steel-making industry and the oil and gas sector.
'Our problem, however, is how can we succeed in finding new niches in order to boost the Romanian companies' presence in Russia. It will be an important objective of my mandate, to discover and re-discover those areas in which the Romanian companies can successfully be present in the Russian market. Let us not forget that we have only 1.3 billion dollars in exports out of 4.4 billion dollars worth of commercial exchanges in 2012, with the remainder being imports from the Russian Federation - a third, actually. We are concerned about this imbalance in the commercial balance. We must find export opportunities, also by starting from the traditional goods and products - wine, furniture that were and are still known in Russia today', the ambassador stressed.
Soare underscored that 'Russia means not only Moscow or Sankt Petersburg. Russia has big regions, as big as Romania or even bigger, unexplored by the Romanian businesses. There is a huge market all the way to Vladivostok. We must go to those areas as well', he said.
Romania must find opportunities for export to Russian Federation
Romania must find new niches in order to boost the Romanian companies' presence in Russia and export opportunities that should cut the imbalance of the commercial balance, diplomat Vasile Soare, who is to take up post as Romanian ambassador in Moscow told Agerpres.
He stressed that increasing the Romanian companies' presence in Russia will be a major objective of his ambassador's mandate.
'Our problem, however, is how can we succeed in finding new niches in order to boost the Romanian companies' presence in Russia. It will be an important objective of my mandate, to discover and re-discover those areas in which the Romanian companies can successfully be present in the Russian market. Let us not forget that we have only 1.3 billion dollars in exports out of 4.4 billion dollars worth of commercial exchanges in 2012, with the remainder being imports from the Russian Federation - a third, actually. We are concerned about this imbalance in the commercial balance. We must find export opportunities, also by starting from the traditional goods and products - wine, furniture that were and are still known in Russia today', the future ambassador stressed.
Soare urged the Romanian businessmen to turn to as many as possible areas from Russia, not only to Moscow or Sankt Petersburg.
'Russia has big regions, as big as Romania or even bigger, unexplored by the Romanian businesses. There is a huge market all the way to Vladivostok. We must go to those areas as well', he added.
The diplomat said the Russian companies' interest in the Romanian market is rising.
'As you know, the Russian companies are well represented in Romania, ranging from the aluminium industry, the steel-making industry to the oil and gas sector - Lukoil is a presence in the Romanian market, Gazprom Neft is a rising presence. These are but two examples. They are powerful companies, which seek to expand in the Romanian market. Therefore, starting from the energy sector, the heavy industry, the aluminium industry, I feel the interest from the Russian companies is rising. The important thing is that the market rules and the Romanian laws in force should be respected', Soare underscored.