"Become a Russian champion too!" This is the request at the end of a brochure from the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce Abroad (AHK).

A good 20 companies have followed her, and the website lists the biggest names in German business among those involved: Volkswagen and Mercedes, Siemens and Henkel, Deutsche Lufthansa and Deutsche Bank, Continental and Schaeffler, SAP and Metro, the retail chain Globus, the agricultural machinery manufacturer Claas and a few others.

Gustave parts

Business correspondent in Stuttgart.

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Catherine Wagner

Business correspondent for Russia and the CIS based in Moscow.

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Bernd Freytag

Business correspondent Rhein-Neckar-Saar based in Mainz.

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Jonas Jansen

Business correspondent in Düsseldorf.

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Timo Kotowski

Editor in Business.

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They are all "Russia Champion 4.0".

The aim of the project is to "publicize the commitment of German industry in Russia" and to strengthen "cooperation between Russian and German companies".

It's about contacts with Russian politicians and media presence in the country.

An illustrated book is to be presented to VIPs, and a traveling exhibition is to be used for companies.

Football World Cup in Russia

In ordinary times, that would be an unremarkable project.

After all, it is the task of foreign chambers of commerce to represent the interests of local companies and to promote economic relations.

But times are not normal: a military attack by Russia on Ukraine is imminent.

In view of the dispute over the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, German-Russian economic relations are under international scrutiny.

Quite a few in the West accuse Germany and its economy of being too close to Russia.

So how appropriate is such lobbying when war and peace are at stake at the same time?

How are companies positioning themselves in view of the delicate political situation?

When asked about the participation by the FAZ, no company distanced itself from the project or the designation as "Russia champion".

Instead, they emphasize the importance of the Russian market.

The current development is being observed closely or with concern, according to some of the companies that responded to the questions.

It is important to keep channels of communication open and diplomatic efforts are relied on.

According to the AHK, the foreign ministers of the two countries have assumed patronage of the project, which has been running for two years and is scheduled to end this year.

Upon request, the German Foreign Ministry did not comment publicly on the cooperation until the editorial deadline.

The high-profile project dates back to 2018, when the World Cup took place in Russia.

The title also alludes to this.

The "Russia champions 2018" had a great response, the campaign had "broad media coverage in Russia and sympathy from the government, business, society and in the regions," writes Matthias Schepp, CEO of the AHK in the presentation.

The success is reason enough to relaunch the project as part of the German-Russian theme year Economy and Sustainable Development 2020-2022.

There are different accounts in Berlin and Moscow as to whether the initiative for the new edition of the image show was initiated by business or politics.