No Major French Company Left Russian Market Since 2014 - French Embassy

"France has historic trade, economic, and financial ties with Russia, and they mean a lot to us. No major French company has left the Russian market since 2014. When I say that companies remain in the market, I mean that they strengthen their positions and [boost] investment," Erbs said at a conference of the Franco-Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

He praised Russian-French economic relations, stressing France's respect for Russia as a "global economy" and the fourth biggest economic partner of the European Union.

Erbs remarked that Russian-French trade, which experienced a decline in 2014, was actively restoring since 2017, and the trend was likely to continue.

The counselor for economic and financial affairs at the French embassy said that Germany had had more companies in Russia, but some 1,300 out of 7,000 of German firms had left the Russian market since 2014.

German-Russian Chamber of Commerce said at the end of last year that the number of German companies registered in Russia decreased from 4,965 in 2017 to 4,661 in 2017.

"We cannot say the same about the French enterprises which remained on the market, and we observe that they even strengthened their investments in this market," Erbs said.

According to Erbs, trade between the two countries continued growing in 2018 and was likely to 'exceed 15 billion Euros [over $16.9 billion] with more than 20 percent growth."

The counselor added that based on the meeting of the French and Russian economic ministers in December 2018, 30 priority projects were outlined for 2019, including cooperation in the climate change sector, new mobility and sustainable cities.

"It's a very important, crucial point of cooperation for us," Erbs said.

Russian-French trade reached $15.5 billion in 2017, while the first nine months of 2018 saw bilateral trade amount to $12.7 billion.