The programme of holding the 'inter-lapping' Year of Russia in Germany and the Year of Germany in Russia in 2012-2013 will be launched in June," Viktor Zubkov said, as he opened the meeting.

He noted that this was the first time a bilateral project like this would be organized on such a large scale. "It will be a continuation of the 2003-2004 events held during the Year of Russian Culture in Germany and the Year of German Culture in Russia," the First Deputy Prime Minister noted.

Some key events of this cultural programme include a joint exhibition called Russians and Germans Together: One Thousand Years of History, Culture and Art in Moscow, the German-Russian festival in Berlin, an exhibition of the Moscow Kremlin Museum's A Cross-roads of World Cultures, The Tsarist Court: from Ivan the Terrible to Peter the Great in Dresden, and a joint exhibition The Bronze Age, and Europe Without Borders in St Petersburg and Moscow," Zubkov went on to say.

Apart from extensive cultural events, a demonstration of achievements in the economy, in science and education, as well as contact between the two societies, the media and young people, will all be distinctive features of the new programme. The Russian-German Forum St Petersburg Dialogue is actively involved in creating the programme. Various Russian regions will devote much attention to organising and holding these events. All this will attract large audiences in Russia and in Germany," the First Deputy Prime Minister said.

Viktor Zubkov expressed confidence that the events being planned for the Year of Russia in Germany and the Year of Germany in Russia will serve as a logical continuation of a positive bilateral political dialogue and as a good incentive for expanding intensive bilateral trade and economic cooperation. Analysts predict that the 2011 Russian-German trade turnover will reach a record-breaking $70 billion.

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Viktor Zubkov heads the Russian section of the Organising Committee to Hold the Year of Russia in Germany and the Year of Germany in Russia in 2012-2013.

The decision to hold the Year of Russia in Germany and the Year of Germany in Russia in 2012-2013 was made after top-level Russian-German inter-state consultations in July 2011 in Hannover.