SAN FRANCISCO, October 15. /TASS/. Pragmatism and business interests win over heated political rhetoric in Russian-US relations, Vice President of Russia's Transneft oil pipeline company Mikhail Margelov told journalists on Monday on the sidelines of the annual international Fort Ross Dialogue forum in San Francisco.

"In the current situation, and this was discussed at the forum today, all three companies that support the Fort Ross Dialogue - Transneft, Chevron and Sovkomflot - show that pragmatism wins, and business interests defeat political rhetoric. What we show together with Chevron, with Exxon Mobil, with Shell, in managing and operating the Caspian Pipeline Consortium that delivers Kazakhstani oil to the port of Novorossiysk, represents, in my opinion, a good example of how a positive economic agenda makes the two groups of officials [in Russia and in the US] communicate," Margelov said.

"The fact that Russian Ambassador to the US [Anatoly Antonov] is here today, as well as California Governor [Jerry Brown] and Russia's Novgorod Region Governor [Andrey Nikitin], together with members of the Russian State Duma, shows us that even in the uneasy conditions that Russian-US relations have found themselves in now, common sense wins and always finds a way," he noted.

Talking about promising projects, Margelov said: "I think Novgorod Governor Andrey Nikitin made an interesting report today. The Novgorod Region is becoming a 'digital Mecca' of the Russian Federation. Of course, cooperation between this region and the Silicon Valley would be very promising," Margelov said.