MOSCOW, May 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet on Tuesday with Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg to discuss joint projects and other issues, a Kremlin source said on Monday.
"Special attention will be paid to preserving the growth rate of bilateral trade and the development of joint projects," the source said, adding that the sides would discuss "the whole complex of bilateral relations in trade, economic, energy and investment."
Trade between Russia and Norway grew 45%, to $2.3 billion in 2008, while Norwegian investment in Russia's economy stood at $1.5 billion. However, due to the global financial crisis, trade between the two countries dropped 36.4% year-on-year in the first three months of 2009.
Norway is the world's third largest crude oil exporter after Saudi Arabia and Russia, and Europe's second largest gas supplier after Russia.
The sides will also address bilateral cooperation in the Arctic region and the new European security treaty proposed by the Russian president in Berlin last June.
