Dharmendra Pradhan visits Moscow ahead of PM's EEF engagements

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's participation in the fifth Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) as the Chief Guest, Dharmendra Pradhan, the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, held a string of official engagements here from August 29 to 30.

During the visit, he held a series of high-level bilateral engagements with the Russian government and private sector entities from energy and steel, according to an official press release. He visited Moscow at the invitation of the Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak.

A 25-member strong business delegation comprising of CEOs of some of the largest Indian oil, gas, steel, and engineering consulting companies accompanied the minister on his official visit.

"Coming a week before the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Vladivostok (for EEF), it represented a powerful signal of India's interest in energy and mineral collaboration with Russia," the official statement added.

The visit saw Pradhan, who also helms the Ministry of Steel, holding high-level meetings with Yuri Trutnev, the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District; Alexander Novak, the Russian Minister of Energy; and Victor Evtukhov, the Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade.

The delegation also met the senior leadership of some of the biggest oil, gas, coal, and steel companies in Russia like Rosneft and Novatek, to name a few. Ways to further strengthen collaboration in the near future were discussed during the meeting.

"The Petroleum Minister and the delegation also visited the Innovation Centre and Moscow Business School in Skolkovo. The head of Skolkovo foundation Arkady Dvorkovich presented the opportunities to Indian companies and welcomed their participation in the Skolkovo platform," the release added.

The Skolkovo Innovation centre has more than 2,000 startups. It has the potential to integrate Indian and Russian products into the global value chain, as per the statement.