Uruguay’s largest pulp mill UPM announced that it will be making final checks of the plant’s equipment in the rest of the week, following on annual maintenance work, but production is not scheduled to resume until the Finnish company receives a reply from President Jose Mujica regarding the output expansion request.
Uruguay’s First Lady and Senator Lucia Topolansky said that for her fellow countrymen having a dispute with Argentina is “like fighting with yourself” and described as ‘painful’ the several years long conflict between the two countries over the construction of the UPM (former Botnia) pulp mill on a shared river.
A huge pulp mill, UPM, which has been at the heart of a several years’ controversy between Uruguay and Argentina, does not contaminate revealed Uruguay’s Foreign Affairs minister Luis Almagro before the Uruguayan parliament.
Argentina and Uruguay signed Monday in Montevideo the agreement which puts an end to an ongoing years-long litigation over the construction of a pulp mill along a shared river.
Argentine Foreign Affairs Minister Héctor Timerman will meet Monday in Montevideo with his Uruguayan counterpart, Luis Almagro, to advance with the implementation of the scientific committee that will monitor the UPM (ex Botnia) pulp mill and the River Uruguay.
Argentina’s Gualeguaychú Assembly members decided to once again return to blocking the National Route 136 and this way obstruct the international road to neighbouring Uruguay; however, the measure will only take place during the Sundays of September and for a limited time, which came as a surprise.
Argentine Foreign Affairs minister Hector Timerman said he held a “very important meeting” with Gualeguaychú Assembly members after the group of activists requested to be given an explanation of the upcoming joint monitoring of the River Uruguay recently agreed by Argentina and neighbouring Uruguay.
Uruguay and Argentina agreed Wednesday on a 48 hours “reflection period” before retaking formal negotiations for the joint monitoring of the River Uruguay, which is at the heart of the pulp mills dispute, and alleged contamination, between the neighbouring countries.
The Argentine city of Gualeguaychú and Fray Bentos across the shared River Uruguay celebrated Monday the first month of the end to pickets that since 2006 had impeded traffic and trade across the international bridge linking the two neighbouring locations.
Pressure is mounting in Argentina for pickets blocking an international bridge leading to Uruguay to be ordered removed by a court order, following Wednesday’ presidential summit when Uruguay’s Jose Mujica and Argentina’s Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner agreed on a joint agenda of pending issues.