MOSCOW (AFP) - The chief of US conglomerate General Electric (GE) told President Vladimir Putin that his company may invest up to 200 million dollars in energy and transport projects in Russia.
GE is "studying the possibility of investing around 100 million dollars in a local Russian partner to develop the Russian market and export needs" in energy, chief executive Jeffrey Immelt told Putin in a meeting at the Kremlin.
Immelt said GE was also interested in a long-term partnership with Russia in the sphere of transport, "to bring technologies, modern management techniques and investment" to provide for the Russian market but also exports.
"We are ready to invest up to 100 million dollars for the creation of this basis," he said.
Immelt said the investment climate was now very favourable in Russia, adding that GE had turnover of 700 million dollars in Russia last year, with a profit estimated at between 50 million and 100 million dollars.
He said his company's activities in Russia focussed on banking, health care, energy, oil, gas, and transportation.
Putin praised the Russia-US partnership in the sphere of energy.
"I am very pleased that we have the opportunity to talk about this topic not only from the point of view of our common work in relation to the extraction of natural resources, but to discuss other aspects of this problem," he said.
Putin said Russia and the United States had consolidated their political relations under US President George W. Bush and voiced his desire to see economic relations also improve.
10-21-2004, 17h54