Talking to the press after meeting the members of the Slovenian-Russian Business Council in Ljubljana on Monday, Erjavec said that the visit will provide an additional boost to business ties between the countries.

Medvedev will visit Slovenia upon the invitation of his counterpart Miro Cerar.

The PM is this year's honorary sponsor of the ceremony held at a picturesque Russian Orthodox chapel built in 1916 by Russian POWs in the memory of their compatriots who were killed by an avalanche during road construction.

Today's meeting with the Slovenian-Russian Business Council discussed above all topical issues related to trade with Russia, which has dropped by around 30% due to EU sanctions, according to the minister.

He announced that the Russian-Slovenian intergovernmental commission for economic cooperation will hold a meeting in Kazan on 16 September. "We will see what the expectations are then," said Erjavec.

Janez Škrabec, who heads the Slovenian-Russian Business Council, said he was happy that Slovenian politicians had come to realize that good relations with Russia would not impair the country's ties with the west.