Mr. Deputy Prime Minister, Ministers, Your Excellencies, My Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen:
This is not the first time that British commercial interests have been represented in Moscow—not by a long way. Indeed, we have been here for at least four centuries.
In the year 1554, the Father of British trade with Russia—Richard Chancellor—came back from his first voyage and announced that he had discovered Russia, a slight exaggeration no doubt, but it is true that as a result of his expedition and his good reception by Tzar Ivan, the Muscovy Company was founded in 1555 and was granted trading rights.
In the following year, the first English traders established a permanent presence in Moscow. They were granted the use of the building near the Kremlin which is known to this day as ‘The Old English House’.
Exactly 400 years ago, in 1587, these rights were confirmed in a Letter of Privilege to the English merchants from Tzar Fedor Ivanovitch. [end p1]
There have, of course, been one or two changes since that time. For example, I understand that the 16th century building was provided rent-free. Nowadays you and we are both more hardheaded!
This is a very good moment for the opening of this new Office. Our decision to open it was inspired by the target set by General Secretary Gorbachev during his very successful visit to Britain. He said we should aim to increase our two-way trade by 40–50%;, and I certainly subscribe to that target, but we are going to have to work very hard to meet it, and I have agreed with Prime Minister Ryzhkov this morning that we should work together to achieve by 1990 a volume of 2.5 billion roubles in our bilateral trade. This will entail each side achieving an increase of some £350–£400 million over their present export level. To this end, Mr. Ryzhkov handed me a Letter of Export and Import Opportunities, which I hope you will all jump at!
Britain has a great deal to offer which should be of particular interest to our Soviet friends, for instance, the latest technology for increasing agricultural production, and expertise in the cost-effective refurbishment of key industries such as textiles, chemicals, iron and steel.
Some billion pounds worth of major project contracts are at present under negotiation, and it is a great pleasure to see that some important Letters of Intent and Contracts have been signed over the past few [end p2] days. We hope that they will be followed by many more in both directions.
We thank the Soviet Chamber of Commerce and Industry for all its support in the establishment of this Office, and I know that many more British companies are eager to make use of it and already there is not enough space for all who want it. Doubtless, we shall need additional accommodation, but we thought it advisable to make a start as we have done here today.
Mr. Deputy Prime Minister, we thank you for your presence here today. We hope that the success of this Office and the enlarged trade which will flow from it will lead to increasing friendship and understanding for our two peoples, and we wish your country success in its great endeavours.
I have pleasure in declaring this Office open (applause).