According to The Moscow Times, the agreement came during the most recent meeting of the Swedish-Russian Steering Committee in Stockholm. The committee, comprised of government ministers of the two countries, focuses on a wide range of economic issues, including energy and international trade.
In an interview with the newspaper, Ewa Bjorling, Sweden’s Minister for Trade, said the committee’s meetings have led to “a lot of cooperation within energy, space, education and many other areas.”
Bjorling went on to describe the energy agreement as “one concrete thing” that came out of the committee’s most recent gathering, but did not elaborate on details other to say the agreement focuses primarily on energy modernization and energy efficiency.
However, in a joint press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Frederick Reinfeldt on 28 April 2011, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin did add at least one detail – the planned creation of a joint research facility.
“We are interested in developing close cooperation in energy efficiency and renewable energy sources,” said Putin, whose remarks were posted on his web site. “In this context, Sweden is doing very well -- its economy and GDP are growing whereas the amount of energy consumed remains the same or is growing much slower. This is a very good example of energy efficiency.
“We have agreed to work through our energy agencies and draft a project for a Russian-Swedish centre on innovation and energy efficiency," Putin said.
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