By Vestnik Kavkaza
Today the first visa service center of Germany will be opened in Russia. Russian citizens can request for a short-term Shengen visa there. Personal presence of applicants is not obligatory. Last year the embassy and the consulship of Germany received 380 thousand requests for visa. The number of requests grew by 10% in comparison with 2011.
On the eve of the opening of the first visa service center Ulrich Brandenburg, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Russian Federation, talked about the future political agenda in 2013: “First, we will hold the first joint activity - a "Green Week", and we expect, as always, that governors and other representatives from the Russian side, famous faces will come from many Russian regions.
In the first weekend of February, a Security Conference will be held in Munich. Russia will traditionally be presented by a wide range and number of participants. Then there will be the international tourism market, there will be very many players from the Russian side, not least due to the Sochi Olympics.
The President of the Russian Federation has been invited to participate in the trade fair in Hanover, which will take place in early April, and Russia will be the partner country there.
The Federal Chancellor is invited to participate in an economic forum in St. Petersburg.
As for economic relations between Russia and Germany, 2012 can be surely called a record year. In 2011, the volume of trade between Russia and Germany was about 75 billion euros, and in the past year, we expect an increase in this amount by 10-12%, i.e. it can be assumed that trade turnover was 82-83 billion euros. About 6300 companies with German capital are active in Russia, these are not only clear German companies, but companies with the participation of German capital, and 800 of them are members of the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce. As for the close economic relationship between Russia and Germany, a major role is played here, of course, by confidence – I mean not only confidence in the German businesses existing in Russia, but also confidence in and the opportunities inherent in economic development in Russia. I look at my watch and realize that I need to be limited to small "spot" statements, so I’ll mention the scientific cooperation between Russia and Germany. About 670 partnerships exist between universities in Russia and in Germany, about 4000 scholarships are received by students and young scientists from Russia. These scholarships are primarily distributed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). We are very happy, of course, that Russia maintains interest in the study of German. It is not supported by itself; for this, of course, it is necessary to do something. With regard to tourism and travel between our two countries, I do not have final figures for 2012, but approximately 218 thousand visas were issued by the German Embassy in Moscow, about 800 were issued by general consulates, so roughly 380,000 visas were issued and given to Russians. This is approximately 10% more than in the previous year. And so, looking back at 2012, we can talk about what we expect from 2013. We hope and believe that we will broaden, deepen and strengthen our relationship with Russia. We are not neighbors geographically, but we are virtual neighbors. I have spent the Christmas holidays in Berlin, and I can say with confidence that in Berlin there is no place where you cannot hear Russian spoken. Over the years we became close again, and all this, of course, should be viewed in a historical context. Soon we will celebrate the 70th anniversary of Nazi Germany's surrender at Stalingrad. I myself will take part in activities that will take place in Volgograd. This, of course, is a terrible part of our common historical experience in the 20th century, but our shared history is much longer than these few decades, so I am very happy to note that the beginning of the Year of Germany and Russia was an exhibition about the history of thousands of years of collaboration between the German and Russian peoples. It is still on in Berlin, and I know that this exhibition has been visited by 270,000 visitors, so we can see how great the interest of the Germans in Russia is.”
“As for individual events that will take place within the Year of Germany in the first half of 2013, they will first be held in Russian regions - about 700 events that will take place in 50 Russian cities,” Rüdiger Bolz, director of the Goethe Cultural Center in Moscow, says. “As for the beginning of this series of events, there will be an event of historical and political significance devoted to the end of the Battle of Stalingrad on February 3, a cultural event. The symphony orchestras of Volgograd and Osnabrück ill perform together. Part of the program will be devoted to Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and the second part will be devoted to a work that has been written to order - the Osnabrück Symphony Orchestra has commissioned from a Russian composer, Elena Firsova, who lives in London, a work called "Waiting", and this concert will be transmitted live in Germany.
In the second half of the Year of Germany in Russia a group of 12 cellists from Berlin will perform. An exhibition of Sigmar Polke, who is considered one of the most important people in the arts in Germany, will be held in Russia. Stuttgart State Ballet will perform at the Bolshoi Theatre. A photographic exhibition entitled "Photographing the Future” will be held - there was such a contest for Russian and German photographers and devoted to the theme of the future. An exhibition on Frederick the Great and Catherine the Great will be held. And then, on June 19, the Year of Germany will be officially closed with a powerful finale, which will be played for us by an orchestra of wind instruments from Munich. It will be the end of the Year of Germany, which is expected this year, as well as the 20th anniversary of the foundation of the Goethe-Institut.”
