"The tenth anniversary meeting of the St Petersburg Dialogue Forum, which will be held from July 13 to July 15, 2010, in Yekaterinburg, will be devoted to the topic ‘Russian and German Society in the Next Decade'", co-chairman of the forum and First Deputy Prime Minister Zubkov announced at the end of the meeting.

"Despite the seemingly laconic title, the topic is very relevant and will promote a deeper relationship between Russia and Germany," he added.

"On the whole, the forum is approaching its tenth anniversary with positive results to show," said Zubkov, who hailed the growing number of events sponsored by the St Petersburg Dialogue Forum. "In the last quarter of 2009 alone, the forum's working groups met seven times, the Presidium of the Russian and German Youth Parliament convened for a meeting, a seminar on logistics education was held, and new names have appeared on the Russian coordinating committee," said Zubkov. The deputy prime minister sees this as proof that the forum remains "a dynamically evolving body, whose importance for Russian-German relations continues to grow."

"However, we will not stop there," said Mr Zubkov. "We will continue to seek out new opportunities for cooperation."

"Russia and Germany are key players on the international stage, capable of determining global trends. Their civil societies play an important role in this. I believe that the upcoming anniversary of the St Petersburg Dialogue Forum is a good occasion to consider the future of our countries' relationship in the next decade and outline our priorities in bilateral cooperation so as to make it even more productive."