The boss of oil and gas firm Wintershall Dea plans to join talks scheduled for early March between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German top-level executives, he said, adding open lines of dialogue were crucial in the current situation.
The Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, which counts the CEOs of BASF, Uniper, Siemens Energy, and Metro among its board members, is organizing such a discussion on an annual basis.
While these talks had to be canceled over the past two years due to the coronavirus pandemic, the planned March discussions come as tensions between Russia and the West run high due to fears over a Russian invasion of Ukraine.
"As things stand at present, I will be taking part in the talks between the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations and the Russian president, which is planned for the beginning of March," Wintershall Dea Chief Executive Officer Mario Mehren told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
"Because I am convinced that breaking off discussions will not make our world any safer."
The remarks reflect the big economic interest in and deep ties with Russia as a place for European and German companies to do business, with energy being at the core of the mutual relationship.
Wintershall Dea, which is co-owned by BASF and Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman's LetterOne investor group, is one of the financial backers of the Gazprom-led GAZP.MM Nord Stream 2 pipeline that could be hit by sanctions if war breaks out.
Mehren said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz highlighted the potential for German-Russian cooperation in the fields of decarbonization, renewable energy sources, hydrogen, and digitization during his visit to Moscow this week.
"This can only be tackled together. And this requires economic cooperation and dialog channels."
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz and Matthias Inverardi; Editing by Chris Reese)
