MOSCOW, June 27 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin met with members of the American and German business communities in St. Petersburg on the weekend.

"The businessmen did not emphasize any major problems hindering the effectiveness of their activities in Russia," Putin said at a cabinet meeting Monday.

Putin said they had actually discussed economic interpenetration among the three countries and Russia's economic integration into the world economy.

Putin said many of the world's leading companies that had been active in the Russian market had been represented by their CEOs at the meetings.

"The meetings were organized at the request of our colleagues [the businessmen]," Putin said.

Putin said the meetings were accented by "a useful and timely dialog, and a comprehensive one in terms of the range of issues discussed."

At the same time, the president stressed the necessity of ensuring domestic producers' interests so that they could revolve their fixed assets.

Putin said by abolishing or cutting duties on the imported equipment not produced locally, the government helped domestic producers renovate their assets.

Deputy Prime Minister Zhukov told Putin the cabinet decided to cut or abolish import duties on light and textile industry equipment, digital audio and video equipment and medical equipment.