Bangladeshi businessman Mia Sattar has been named chairman of the Russia-Bangladesh Business Council. A well-known entrepreneur in Russian business circles, he heads National Group. The council’s organisational meeting was held on Thursday at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation in Moscow.
Vladimir Padalko, vice president of the chamber, chaired the meeting. He welcomed and congratulated Sattar on his new role. Padalko said the council’s work should be based on the real needs of entrepreneurs. Its main tasks will be preparing analyses of the Bangladesh market for Russian regions, identifying promising areas of cooperation and finding barriers to market entry. He also stressed the importance of providing individual support to companies interested in working in Bangladesh.
According to Padalko, the council will serve as an aide to the Russia-Bangladesh intergovernmental commission. Specific problems in doing business and implementing joint projects will be raised at the government level by pooling entrepreneurs’ proposals.
Mohammad Nazrul Islam, Bangladesh’s ambassador to Russia, recalled the historic friendship between the two countries. Citing the Soviet Union’s support during Bangladesh’s independence, he said the new platform would boost mutually beneficial cooperation. He added that the embassy was ready to extend all kinds of support to the council’s work.
Vyacheslav Ermolaev, head of the Second Asia Department at Russia’s foreign ministry, said Bangladesh is Russia’s second-largest trading partner in South Asia after India. He cited the construction of the Rooppur nuclear power plant as one of the key joint projects. He also pointed to the complexity of financial transactions and the need to widen the list of traded goods.
Anastasia Romanova, head of the South Asia division in the bilateral cooperation department of Russia’s economic development ministry, said the council would allow the intergovernmental commission’s agenda to be broadened in line with business needs. She named energy, chemicals, the agro-industrial sector and information technology as promising areas.
At the meeting, Sattar outlined opportunities for cooperation in energy, agriculture, digital technology, transport infrastructure and light industry. Possible initiatives include building a solar power plant and grain warehouse in Bangladesh, and developing an industrial park in Dhaka on the site of Russia’s former trade representation.
He said Russian companies are already working with Bangladeshi garment factories and importing ready-made garments and food products. Work is also under way to secure accreditation for Bangladeshi fish and seafood suppliers to enter the markets of Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union.
Identifying the main obstacle to expanding trade, Sattar pointed to the lengthy and costly product certification process in Bangladesh. To address it, he proposed working with the relevant agencies of both countries on harmonising quality standards and mutual recognition of certificates.
In his assessment, Russian small and medium-sized businesses often see Bangladesh as little more than the textile industry and the Rooppur project. To change this perception, he proposed a unified information portal, sector-specific business missions, and regular contact between entrepreneurs with help from the Russian chamber and the Russian Export Center.
“We do not need a single forum; we need regular B2B contact,” Sattar said. He also proposed setting up permanent sector-based working groups under the council to review projects. Alexander Sirtsev, general director of Prodintorg, proposed an agro-industrial working group based on his experience supplying Russian fertiliser and grain to Bangladesh.
The meeting presented the council’s executive directorate and a proposed 2026-27 work plan. Stanislav Simakov has been appointed executive director. Interested organisations have been asked to send proposals. A business meeting of entrepreneurs from the two countries will be prepared in Dhaka on the sidelines of the intergovernmental commission meeting in November.
Also present were Vladimir Polzhkov, general secretary of the Russian Association for International Cooperation; Evgenia Igorova of the SME Corporation; Tatiana Belkevich, president of the Russian Association of Fashion Industry; and Saltanat Sakambayova of NOVATEK.
