On April, 12, 2007, a delegation of Russian business circles headed by Mr. Vladimir Evtushenkov, the Chairman of RABC, Chairman of the Board of JFC SISTEMA, visited the Kingdom of Bahrain. The delegation met Essam Fahro, the Chairman of the Board of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry and members of the Board who informed their Russian counterparts that the Bahraini side attached great importance to holding the Seventh Session of RABC in Manama and was actively preparing for that event. The sides discussed the organizing issues and the plan of the preparation for the upcoming event. Essam Fahro expressed his interest in widening the financial and banking cooperation with Russian companies which was to the benefit to both parties. Vladimir Evtushenkov handed Essam Fahro the letter of the President of the Russian CCI H.E.Eugene Primakov, in which he invited Mr. Fahro to visit Moscow. The Chairman of the Board of the Bahrain CCI accepted the invitation gratefully.
Hassan Fahro, the Bahraini Minister of Commerce and Industry, stressed during his meeting with the Russian delegation, that the foundation of the Russian-Bahraini Business Council, the Co-Chairman of which was the leading representative of the Bahraini business community Jehad Hassan Bukamal, would promote the bilateral cooperation. The Seventh Session of RABC in Manama was the most important issue on the bilateral agenda.
Zakariya Heyjres, the Deputy Chairman of the Bahraini Economic Development Council, spoke about the favorable investment climate in the country, tax concessions for foreign investors and expressed his hope for the mutually beneficial development of the investment cooperation between the Russian and Bahraini financial organizations.
Mr. Evtushenkov discussed with his Bahraini counterparts the issues connected with holding the Seventh Session of RABC and the First Joint Session of the Russian-Bahraini Business Council in Manama. The Chairman of RABC said that he was sure that the forthcoming meetings would become the turning point in the development of the Russian-Arab relations on the whole and the Russian-Bahraini relations in particular.
On the 11th of April, the Russian delegation visited Kuwait where it held negotiations with Ali Al Jarrakh, the Kuwaiti Oil Minister, Co-Chairman of the Russian-Kuwaiti Intergovernmental Commission, as well as with the Director of the Kuwaiti investment agency, the management of the National Kuwaiti Bank and heads of the largest Kuwaiti companies. The parties expressed their interest in the development of the commercial, economic and investment cooperation and, in particular, setting up contacts in the financial and banking spheres. The representatives of the Kuwaiti companies examined activities of the Russian companies and marked that there were realistic opportunities to implement joint investment projects in Kuwait, Russia and other countries.
During the meeting in the Kuwaiti Chamber of Commerce and Industry the parties signed the Protocol on Cooperation between the Russian and Kuwaiti Chambers of Commerce and Industry. H.E.Ali Al Ganem, the Chairman of the Board of CCI of Kuwait, gratefully accepted H.E.Eugene Primakov’s invitation to visit Moscow as the head of the Kuwaiti business delegation.