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Russian, Chinese aluminum producers sign memorandum on joint venture

The sides reached agreement to set up a joint workgroup within three months upon the signing

MOSCOW, December 6 (Itar-Tass) — One of Russia’s major producers of aluminum, OAO Rusal, and the private Chinese aluminum manufacturer Shandong Xinfa on Thursday signed a memorandum of intentions that envisions a scrutiny of possible options for cooperation, one of which is the setting up of joint ventures in the aluminum industry.

The sides reached agreement to set up a joint workgroup within three months upon the signing of the memorandum and to determine the scope of potential opportunities for cooperation of this kind.

Proposals and recommendations the workgroup is expected to formulate will be considered before June 30, 2013, in order to determine the projects holding the biggest promise for cooperation.

The options for joint business that have been reviewed already envision a possibility of setting up joint production facilities on the territory of Russia. Also, RUSAL and Shandong Xinfa are pondering bauxite and alumina projects in the third countries.

The memorandum also presupposes the pooling of efforts in a search for investment at Chinese financial institutes for the potential projects. The two contracting parties have agreed to discuss the legal details of such project at a later date.

A commission in charge of preparing the regular meetings of Russian and Chinese Prime Ministers and overseeing the issues pertaining to the energy sector discussed the joint manufacturing of aluminum on the Russian territory and its further exports at its 16th session Wednesday.

The sides agreed to stimulate cooperation between the Russian and Chinese corporations in this area.

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