Germany, Russia to sign multibillion dollar deals in Russia

Germany, Russia to ink multibillion deals

YEKATERINBURG, Russia — German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are expected to oversee the signing of an array of deals between German and Russian companies worth billions of dollars.

In one of them, Siemens AG and Russian Railways will sign a euro2.2 billion ($2.8 billion) contract for more than 200 new regional trains for Russia.

Siemens earlier sold eight trains to Russian Railways which are now running between Moscow and St. Petersburg in Russia’s first high-speed train route.

Germany is Russia’s major trading partner with the trade between two countries topping $15 billion in the first quarter of the year.

Merkel and Medvedev are also expected to discuss Russia-EU relations and international issues including Iran’s nuclear program.