MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina to resume nuclear program in cooperation with Russia

President Medvedev and Cristina Kirchner sign agreements at Casa Rosada

Russian President Dimitri Medvedev met with President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner to commemorate 125 years of bilateral relations between Argentina and Russia and to sign several cooperation agreements in different fields including helping Argentina to develop its nuclear program.

“Today is a very special day. In 200 years of Argentine history, a female Argentine president receives the first Russian president to visit our country” Mrs. Kirchner.

“This speaks of a new world. We acknowledge the importance of Russian history and of global players. We signed important agreements. Our commerce has multiplied a lot since 2003. Today we also signed strategic and technological cooperation accords” added the Argentine president.

Mrs Kirchner said Argentina was very much interested in Russian nuclear cooperation since “we have taken the political decision to develop nuclear energy and our nuclear program”, which was abandoned in the mid nineties.

President Medvedev anticipated that the arrival of the Russian company Rosatom (Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency) in the Argentine market “will lead to a several-billion-dollar investment intended to be spent on the creation of nuclear reactors, as well as on the development of infrastructure”.

Argentina a pioneer in Latinamerica in the development of nuclear energy has two operational nuclear power plants, the Atucha I, close to Buenos Aires City and the Embalse in the central Cordoba province. A third facility, Atucha II, is under construction. Nuclear energy electricity supplies less than 5% of the country’s demand.

President Cristina Kirchner visited Moscow in December 2008, when both heads of state supported the signing of a Strategic Association Agreement. Medvedev visit returns the courtesy. After leaving Buenos Aires, he will head to Brazil for the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) summit.

Medvedev's visit was the first of a Russian president to Argentina (including the USSR period between 1917 and 1991), and the delegation included a number of representatives and officials looking to strengthen bilateral accords.

The Russian president was also joined by his Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Federal Service director Serguey Dankvert and president of the Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) Sergei Kirienki.

Wednesday morning, Argentine Foreign Minister joined Medvedev at the “Economy Seminar on opportunities and business between the Russian Federation and Argentina.”

“We are very happy and expect many things from this visit,” said Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana regarding Medvedev's presence.

After their private gathering, both heads of state joined a parallel meeting where various agreements were signed, among them a Cultural Cooperation Program and an understanding memorandum between the Argentine National Space Activities Committee (CONAE) and Russia's Federal Space Agency.

Other agreements include nuclear cooperation; geological and hydrocarbon investigation cooperation; transportation, forestry legislation, sports, and energy.

The Argentine government has explained that since their meeting in Moscow, both administrations have been looking for a way to “double the amount of trade” that for years has favoured Argentina.

Other agreements ordered for the elimination of visa requirements for Argentine citizens, in return for Argentina's support of Russia to be made part of the World Trade Organization and their support for the Argentine cause in Malvinas sovereignty claim.

Foreign Minister Taiana stated that in 2008 the relationship, which he defines as “strategic,” was given “the ultimate boost,” and during Medvedev's visit both presidents will be able to see that “all their requests have been heard”.

The nuclear energy agreement will be instrumented ty Russia's state-run nuclear power corporation Rosatom and Argentina's Ministry of Federal Planning.

Russian space agency Roscosmos and Argentina's National Commission on Space Activities also signed a memorandum on mutual understanding concerning Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS). This is the equivalent of the US Global Positioning System, or GPS, and is designed for both military and civilian use.

The goal of Glonass project was to have global coverage by 1991 but with the collapse of the Russian economy in the 1990s, work on the project was suspended. Beginning in 2001, Russia is committed to restoring the Glonass system. The number of satellites increased from six to 23 over the last nine years, with only 21 of them operational.

Argentina will also purchase two Russian manufactured Mi-171E helicopters for its armed forces.

Medvedev's visit clears any animosity that may have existed between both countries since 2004, when then president Néstor Kirchner allegedly “stood Vladimir Putin up” in a Moscow airport during his European tour.