The President of the US Chamber of Commerce in Russia, Alexis Rodzianko, told Izvestia that Russia and the US may restart their commercial conversation during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).
It is a question of will, according to him, since a great deal of the groundwork needed before such a meeting has been done. Rodzianko reminded out that each year the US SPIEF delegation was one of the biggest and featured significant American business executives.
In Rodzianko’s view, President Joe Biden has greater freedom of speech than his predecessor and less pressure from legislators. He referred to the American Ambassador to Moscow while discussing advances in bilateral ties, who had stated, with the support of the US President, that he was pushing a proposal to arrange a summit between Russian and US leaders.
The President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia remarked that this signal was extremely good, especially from the United States Government, since a four-year debate had begun for such a meeting.
According to him, US investors are especially interested in the Russian energy sector since the sector is targeting more than half of all planned US investment in the Russian economy this year. And Exxonmobil is historically the largest U.S. investor in the Russian industry.
The head of Russia’s American Chamber of Trade stressed that the primary barrier to commercial operations was visa problems. For American businesses in Russia, hundreds of thousands of Russians work and seniors, about 20,000, need to go on business in Russia, including in the United States. to see their colleagues.
When visas are not granted, these meetings prevent, adding to limitations on coronaviruses, Rodzianko said and underlined that Russian visas at the Russian Embassy in the USA are simpler for Americans to get. In his opinion, the visa question is likely to be a negotiation chip for the US administration.
