MOSCOW, February 3. /TASS/. Russia can provide help to Argentina in developing its nuclear energy, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a joint statement following the talks with his Argentine counterpart Alberto Fernandez on Thursday.
"Rosatom is ready to provide help to Argentina in further developing its energy," he said.
Fernandez told TASS ahead of his visit to Moscow that the Argentinian authorities were ready to resume negotiations on the possibility of building a nuclear power plant (NPP) with Russia’s participation after the South American republic managed to reach an agreement on debt settlement with the International Monetary Fund.
"Research and peaceful use of space" is another promising area of cooperation between the two countries, Putin said, adding that an intergovernmental document on space cooperation came into force two years ago. "We also see huge potential in the expansion of cooperation in such areas as geological exploration, the construction, and maintenance service of energy, as well as oil and gas infrastructure, renewable energy, chemical industry, machine-building, and other fields," the Russian leader said.
"Despite the difficult situation due to the pandemic, economic ties between Russia and Argentina are developing, with mutual trade turnover up 1.5-fold last year," Putin said. "There are opportunities to intensify the Russian-Argentine cooperation in the investment area," he noted, adding that "Russian and Argentine businessmen are showing interest in working with each other." That said, "the relevant intergovernmental commission should address the deepening and diversification of bilateral economic cooperation more actively," the Russian president added. "An important role in the development of business contacts also belongs to the Russian-Argentine and Argentine-Russian council of entrepreneurs," he said, noting that the cooperation between banks is deepening, as well as contacts between commercial banks are being established.