– Dr. Aleksey Shishayev, head of the Economic Section of the Russian Embassy

– What has been your previous experience of working in the field of Russian-American economic cooperation?

– I have worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia for quite a while. I was in the Department of Trade Cooperation. I was consul at the Russian Consulate General in Seattle. Prior to that, I was in Europe, working in Brussels. 

– The economic section keeps track of the progress of bilateral cooperation throughout the fiscal year. What have been the results of the first several months of 2008? What are the overall dynamics of economic cooperation between the two countries?

– In general, constructive trends in our bilateral economic cooperation sustain themselves. The volume of trade between Russia and America has increased, reaching the level of 7.5 billion dollars. By comparison, the figure for the first quarter of 2007 was only 5.2 billion dollars. The upward trend is quite remarkable, as the volume of trade increased by 34%. The rise in Russian imports into the U.S. stood at 42%, while the increase in U.S. goods supplied to the Russian market was 54%.

– What place does Russia occupy as the trading partner of the United States? Where does the U.S. stand in relation to Russia?

– It is somewhat unusual that the United States takes the sixth place in the volume of trade of all Russia’s partners, whereas the share of Russian products continues to be relatively insignificant as far as America’s international commerce is concerned. The percentage of Russia’s contribution to U.S. trade is only 0.8%, putting Russia at the 26th spot on the list of U.S. trading partners.

– Already for a long time, almost two thirds of all imports from Russia to the United States have been raw materials. Are there signs that the inflow of Russian products to the American market can be ennobled?

– Of our imports into the U.S., totaling 5.4 billion dollars, the dominant share is that of energy supplies, primarily oil and petro products. This area accounts for 3.4 billion dollars. Metals stand at 1.2 billion dollars, while chemicals account for 400 million dollars. On the export side that amounts to 2.1 billion, equipment and machinery dominate. They take 1.2 billion. Food products is another sector, totaling 300 million dollars.    

– Do Russian companies have plans to enter the American market? Who was able to succeed so far?

– The most noticeable business projects include Evraz Holding’s acquisition of Oregon Steel Mills at the cost of 2.3 billion dollars and Claymont Steel Holdings (Delaware) for 0.5 billion dollars. Also, Severstal acquired the Baltimore-based company Point Steel Mills for 0.8 billion dollars. Duferco U.S. Investment, half of whose shares is controlled by Novolipetsk Steel, has bought Winner Steel in Pennsylvania for 0.2 billion. Additionally, Magnitogorsk Steel Works intends to construct in Ohio a large steel mill with the total volume of investment exceeding one billion dollars.

– How do Russian regions position themselves in the United States? In the last several years, there have been several presentations of a number of regions of the Russian Federation in America. The governors have visited…

– U.S. companies have expressed active interest towards the development of trade and economic cooperation with Russian regions that have significant natural resources, primarily hydrocarbon reserves. There has been some curiosity towards regions that are the centers of the aerospace, automotive, and pulp & paper industries. Most of the activity is in St. Petersburg, the Leningrad region, Sakhalin, the Tumen region, the Samara region, the Arkhangel’sk region, the republic of Tatarstan, and the republic of Komi.

The bilateral working group Russian-American Pacific Partnership has just had its thirteenth meeting in Seattle.

– The United States continues to be the main investor in the Russian economy. What noteworthy investment projects would you be able to name?

– Against the backdrop of substantial improvements in the Russian economy and the growth of internal consumption, the expansion of production operations continued at the plants of Ford, Alcoa, Coca-Cola, Pepsi Co., Proctor & Gamble, Cargill, and Caterpillar. Agreements have been reached for the creation of the first tractor assembly line of John Deer near the city of Kaluga. Exxon was able to take oil production at Sakhalin-1 to the projected levels. Partnership between LUKoil and ConcoPhillips has also been developing steadily. The Wrigley company bought the leading chocolate producer in Russia, the Korkunov factory.

Goldman Sachs recently conducted its annual meeting in Russia. Wal-Mart has also become interested in Russia.

– With what organizations working in the field of Russian-American economic cooperation do you presently work?

– We are working actively with our colleagues from the U.S.-Russia Business Council, the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce, the Fund for Russian-American Economic Cooperation, the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Russian-American Investment Council. Additionally, we collaborate with various state institutions that have special divisions for working with Russia, including the State Department and the Commerce Department.