"It was a proposal to go back to the format which was known at various times as the Presidential Commission or as the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission and that that was a group that was organized by the two governments, which invited business to participate and encouraged business to work together, encouraged investment. I am actually quite curious to hear the US response to what I understood to be President Putin’s proposal to return to that format," Rodzianko said.
The proposal presumes return to the format which was known at various times as the Presidential Commission or as the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission — a group organized by the two governments that invited businesses to participate and encouraged them to work together and invest more, Rodzianko said.
Unfortunately, US-Russia business relations are heavily constrained by the existence of sanctions, but business ties have continued to be constructive throughout the difficult period of Moscow-Washington relations, Rodzianko noted.
"But I think, using business ties as the leading edge of the relationship where the primary issues are political is maybe putting the cart before the horse," AmCham CEO said.
The proposed high-level group may comprise businesses from a broad range of industries — from oil and gas to agriculture, consumer goods, medicine, medical equipment and everything in between, aeronautics, aerospace, he added.