On the other hand, Russia offers many opportunities for Slovenian businesses and needs Slovenian knowledge and experience, the foreign minister stressed, labelling Russia an important strategic partner.

Erjavec sees additional opportunities for Russian investments in Slovenia in energy, transport infrastructure, banking, new technologies and tourism. Opportunities will also open up as Slovenia gets ready to privatise state-owned companies.

Russian Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov urged the countries to take advantage of the potential for bilateral cooperation - not only with Moscow but also with other Russian regions.

Earlier today, Erjavec and Nikiforov visited Slovenian telecommunications equipment maker Iskratel, where the delegation was introduced to Iskratel's latest fibre optic and broadband products and solutions.

"The talks revolved around Iskratel's foothold in the Russian and regional telecommunications market, where Iskratel expects to see stable growth in the coming year," Iskratel CEO Željko Puljić said.

Head of the Slovenian-Russian Business Council and industrial engineering company Riko CEO Janez Škrabec said Slovenia had been witnessing a rapid growth of Russian investment in Slovenia. Slovenian experience with the investments has been good, he stressed, adding that further investments could be expected as Russia grew into one of the world's biggest exporters of capital.

Trade between the two counties topped EUR 1.1bn last year, up 28% over 2010. Slovenia's exports to Russia stood at about EUR 748m, up 27% over the year before, while imports added up to EUR 400m or 32% more than in 2010.

The conference is taking place at the sidelines of the ninth session of the Slovenian-Russian intergovernmental commission on trade, economic and science cooperation.

The session will begin tomorrow and is expected to focus on energy, IT, investment, transport, agriculture, tourism, regional and scientific cooperation.