HANOVER, Germany, April 11 (UPI) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder and Russian President Vladimir Putin witnessed the signing of two major economic projects at the Hanover Fair.
"This marks the transition to a completely new way of cooperating," Putin said.
German chemical giant BASF and Russian energy company Gazprom signed contracts for two projects valued at a combined $3 billion -- to develop the Yuzhno-Russkoye gas field in western Siberia and to work on the Baltic Sea pipeline, reported Deutsche Welle.
German and Russian companies also signed six other deals at the trade show.
"With the close strategic partnership we want to prevent a repetition ever again of the fateful chapters in our history," Schroder said. "We want to shape our future jointly in a Europe that is growing together and that is only possible if the European Union forms a strategic partnership with Russia and then expands it both politically and economically."
