MOSCOW, July 4 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin on Monday tasked his economics minister with intensifying work on a series of Russian-German projects, including in the machine-building and energy sectors.
"German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, French President Jacques Chirac and I met in Kaliningrad (Russia's exclave on the Baltic Sea(. We discussed all the issues on our agenda, including preparations for the G8 summit, Russia's presidency of the organization next year, and bilateral problems," Putin said at a cabinet meeting Monday.
"You should look into progress in cooperation on major projects with Germany, including in the machine-building and energy sectors, and the North European gas pipeline," Putin told Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref.
Putin asked Gref to study the issues to prevent them from stalling over the summer vacation.
