President's message
Dear visitor,
I welcome you to the website of the Chamber for Economic and Cultural Cooperation between Romania and Russia (PACRR), an organization of which I am president and founder. Before moving on to our page, let me introduce myself and tell you a few words about me and the organization whose site you will be browsing. About me. My name is Tudor Afanasov (baptized Fyodor, a saint whose name I bear from Yaroslavl, Russia - St. Prince Fyodor), a Romanian citizen, a Russian Old Believer (Lipovanin) by nationality, I was born and raised in Suceava, the village of Lipoven. Graduated from the theological and philological faculties (both in Iasi), the Faculty of Economics (in Bucharest), and the diplomatic module at the Romanian Diplomatic Institute (in Bucharest).
The CCECRR Association was born in 2014 exactly on February 27, at a time when I could, to a certain extent, foresee the current situation between the West and the Russian Federation. Then I was Vice President of the Romanian-Russian Bilateral Chamber of Commerce and General Director of the Cultural Association of the Romanian-Russian Friendship (as far back as I can remember, I was involved in the development and promotion of my national identity and in relations with the Russian Federation). Realizing that the situation would not be rosy, I decided to create an organization with the help of which it would be possible to objectively and clearly convey the ideas of economic and cultural development between my countries. I say "countries" because I believe that living in Romania is a blessing, I have a Romanian heart and a Russian soul. I also believe that every Romanian citizen of a different nationality should be involved in the development of relations between the country in which he lives (Romania) and the country from which his grandparents or his great-grandfather and great-grandmother left. If every minority did this, Romania would be able to develop much faster, and its position would be much better understood, because the messages would be conveyed in the language of the countries with which we want to partner.
Through this organization, we want to assume the role of a bridge between Romania and Russia, we want to become a platform where Romanian-Russian relations could improve, and the business environment would ensure good and sustainable economic development. The approach to this eastern space can be observed all over the world, despite the current context, it is still clear that the East is showing a viable economic outlook for the future. Simply by analyzing the situation, we see good relations between the strongest European states and the Russian Federation (Germany, Spain, Greece, France, Italy, etc.), as well as with Asian states and with South America. Against this background, it is clear that Romania must also take measures to develop beneficial relations for itself, so that it can restore its rightful place among the leading states of Europe. Among these measures, the promotion of profitable economic relations with the Russian Federation can be very important, given that the Russian market is huge, Romanian companies will be well valued and in demand there.
Thanks to developed partnerships, CCECRR, despite the current international context, with our partners, was able to find new opportunities for Romanian-Russian cooperation. Employment associations from Russia and Romania came with us, and the association ended with our cooperation with the territorial chambers of commerce and industry from Russia and Romania, we managed to enlist the support of various government institutions of the Russian Federation. Together with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, we managed to help many companies from Romania to enter the Russian market. Thanks to our partnerships, we were able to establish our representative office in almost every city in Romania, but also find representatives abroad (in France, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, Greece, Russia), partners in Belarus, Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran, South America, Ecuador, Cuba, etc. I visited more than 15 regions of the Russian Federation with employees and partners, these meetings ended with the identification of contracts for Romanian companies worth more than two billion dollars, unfortunately, some of them are still under negotiation ...
Our partners are: Council of the Russian Federation for International Relations (together with which we are preparing the project "20 Romanian-Russian Prospects"), Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, International Bank for Economic Cooperation, Russian Council for Economic and Commercial Development, Chamber of Commerce and Industry from Iasi, Chamber of Commerce from Prahova, National Union of Employers of Romania, National Union of Industrialists of Romania, Patronage of Building Societies, Association of Lawyers from Moscow and many other organizations with an economic and cultural profile.
CCECRR contributes not only to economic development between Romania and Russia, but also to cultural development. We have organized dozens of cultural events, we support social projects, we organized concerts of the Red Army, round tables, supported the Olympics, helped young people to visit Russia, sponsored documentaries about Romania and much more.
Our activities did not go unnoticed either by the Embassy of the Russian Federation, which, according to His Excellency, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation to Romania Valery Kuzmin, said, I quote: different areas. We are pleased to note that bilateral trade in 2017 grew by more than 20% and, according to very realistic estimates, it will reach $ 4 billion by the end of the year.
- As evidence of the great mutual interest in expanding the areas of business cooperation not covered by the so-called EU sanctions, the results of the economic missions of Romanian entrepreneurs conducted in 2017 in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yaroslavl and Smolensk, organized with the participation of the Chamber of Economic and Cultural Affairs cooperation between Romania and Russia and the corresponding Chambers of Commerce from Russia.
CCECRR is not a political organization, it is self-financed from its activities and from the contributions of its members, it is aimed at developing pragmatic and mutually beneficial economic and cultural ties with the Russian Federation, a development in which I and my Russian Old Believers want to participate and use all our experience and energy so as not to leave certain barriers to hinder this natural relationship. Through dialogue, many things can be resolved, and I and my CCECRR team, consisting of people of all ages, all specializations and from several nationalities, want to support her.
At the end, I invite you to get acquainted with our work, our departments, find out how you can get a visa, how you can go to Russia, see what events, fairs, news, press releases we have or how to become a member, partner or sympathizer. If you have any suggestions regarding the site or you think that we should change or add something, write to us at office@ccecrr.ro with the title - suggestions for the site.
Happy viewing! Tudor Afanasov, President of CCECRR!