.Medvedev to meet Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom.

MOSCOW, March 22 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will
hold his first meeting with his Guatemalan counterpart Alvaro Colom here
on Monday to discuss ways to boost trade turnover between the two
countries and cooperation in the areas of power generation and oil
production.

The talks are expected to be crowned by a Joint Declaration.
At an International Olympic Committee's session in Guatemala back in
2007, Russia's city of Sochi won the right to host the 2014 Winter
Olympics. Since then, political dialogue between the two countries has
become more active. In 2007, presidents of the two countries held their
first meeting, and in February 2010, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei
Lavrov paid a visit to this Latin American state.
Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom arrived in Moscow for his first
three-day official visit on Sunday. During his stay in Russia, the
Guatemalan president is expected to visit St. Petersburg as well.
"The talks between the two heads of state will focus on boosting trade
and economic cooperation. Both sides think that the current level of
cooperation is inferior to its potential," a high-ranking Kremlin source
told Itar-Tass, referring to official statistics. "In January-November
2009, the trade turnover was 34.7 million U.S. dollars, including Russian
exports of 26.5 million U.S. dollars and imports of 8.2 million U.S.
dollars. Russian exports mainly include fertilizers, paper and cardboard,
plastics and plastic products, ferrous metals. Imports from Guatemala
include tobaccos, coffee, fruits and nuts."
"Both sides believe there are possibilities to expand mutually
beneficial cooperation in the areas of power generation, oil production,
infrastructure development, etc.," the source said.
According to the source, the two presidents will discuss improving the
legal base of bilateral cooperation. "Now the sides have an
intergovernmental agreement on trade and economic cooperation, under which
they have granted each other the most favoured nation regime in the sphere
of trade. They are preparing an agreement on encouraging and protection of
investments, and are looking into the possibility to sign a double
taxation agreement," it specified.
"The talks' agenda includes exchange of views on issues of cooperation
in the areas of security, counteracting international terrorism, illegal
drug trafficking and organized crime," the Kremlin source said, naming
among priorities the implementation of the intergovernmental anti-drug
trafficking agreement signed in February.
The presidents are also expected to discuss ways to enliven
interparliamentary and interregional contacts. Currently, the issue of
establishing twin-city relations between the Guatemalan capital and Russia'
s Sochi is under consideration.
Among other subjects for discussion are broadening cooperation in the
areas of the humanities and tourism. In 2009, Guatemala cancelled entry
visas for Russian citizens.
The sides will also exchange views on topical international and
regional problems, and the Russian Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy
and the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry are expected to sign a cooperation
agreement, the source added.

.Putin, Halonen to meet with Finnish businessmen in St Petersburg.

ST. PETERSBURG, March 22 (Itar-Tass) -- Russian Prime Minister
Vladimir Putin and Finnish President Tarja Halonen, currently here on a
working visit, will meet on Monday with Finnish businessmen, the
governmental press service told Itar-Tass.
The meeting is expected to be attended by Deputy Prime Minister Sergei
Ivanov and Economics Minister Elvira Nabiullina.
The meeting is expected to focus on the development of cooperation in
the timber industry, shipbuilding, power generation, including nuclear,
agro-industrial sector, transportation and telecommunications.
Finland ranks 12th among Russia's foreign trade partners, and 6th
among European Union countries. In 2009, Russia was Finland's number one
foreign trade partner. In 2009, Russian-Finnish trade turnover was some 13
billion U.S. dollars, including exports of 9.1 billion U.S. dollars and
imports of 3.9 billion U.S. dollars.
Some 20 large-scale investment projects involving Finnish partners are
currently being implemented in Russia. These projects cover such areas as
power generation (Fortum power concern), logistics infrastructure (Sponda,
Eke Group), techno parks and business centres in St. Petersburg and the
Leningrad region (Technopolis, Eke Group, Lemkon). According to the
Finnish data, Finland's overall investments in Russia exceed five billion
euros, including direct investments of 2.25 billion euros. Finnish
investments go mainly to such industries as construction, woodworking,
real estate operations, and trade.
Russia is a monopolist supplier of natural gas to Finland and meets
almost 70 percent of Finland's demand for crude oil, a third of its demand
for coal and ten percent of electricity demand. The two countries maintain
long-standing and stable cooperation in the area of power engineering, and
the Finnish government has repeatedly said Russia was a reliable energy
supplier.
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