MOSCOW, January 23 (RIA Novosti) – Russia expects the new US administration to honor agreements with Russian businesses seeking to enter the American market, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.

“We believe the new administration which US President Barak Obama is forming, will make conclusions from this sad experience [with Russian steel maker Severstal] and behave as agreed, namely on the basis of mutual respect and equality and mutual benefit, without any attempts to interfere in each other's internal affairs,” Lavrov said at a press conference in Moscow.

Lavrov was referring to Severstal's plans to open a hi-tech production facility in Detroit last year.

“It [Severstal] was promised … credit guarantees from the US Energy Department but then these guarantees were withdrawn due to political pressure from some US lawmakers - and this despite the fact that Severstal planned and is planning to establish hi-tech production, which will create new jobs in the United States,” Lavrov said.