The meeting was opened by Johan Vanderplaetse, Chairman of the AEB Board. In his opening speech he noted that last year, Maxim Stanislavovich mentioned a “renaissance in the EU-Russia relations”. 

“You have proven to be quite right: the latest developments show if not a real improvement, at least some willingness to enter a more constructive dialogue on the part of some European leaders. We certainly hope that lost trust will be restored and are eager to help in this process", - added the Chairman of the AEB Board.

Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of Economic Development, delivered a speech concerning the current situation in the Russian economy, the development of the business climate in Russia, foreign economic cooperation between Russia and the EU, and opportunities for foreign investors. Maksim Oreshkin noted that 2019 has become the weakest year in terms of economic growth since 2009, mostly due to sanctions, trade wars and weak consumer demand.

Maxim Oreshkin noted that despite all existing problems, in Russia, the attitude towards European business has never been politicized. He also marked out some latest positive steps from the EU side and encouraged building fair and pragmatic relationships with Russian partners. 

Maxim Oreshkin focused on the initiative of the Ministry of Business Climate Transformation and spoke about the first results, as well as the attitude of business to this initiative. The Minister outlined three main directions for further reforms: increasing the volume and quality of investments, increasing the offers in the labor market and further technological development.

The briefing was followed by a series of questions and answers moderated by Frank Schauff, AEB CEO. 

The representatives of AEB member companies were interested in the situation around the technological exchange, taxation of small and medium-sized businesses, regulation of the digital economy, , the reduction of administrative barriers, as well as many other questions that were answered in detail.