KUWAIT CITY, August 15. /TASS/. Russia welcomes the decision of Saudi Arabia to develop use of civilian nuclear technologies that is part of the kingdom’s development strategy by 2030, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Monday in an interview with the Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat. Moscow is interested in participation in Saudi Arabian projects related to nuclear power sector, the minister said.

"We support the Saudi Arabian initiative aimed at use of civilian nuclear power sector. Ambitions of the Saudi government speak for themselves: the kingdom plans to build sixteen nuclear reactors in 25 years. They will produce 20% of required electric power," Novak said.

Russia is interested in joint implementation of this plan, Novak said. Saudi Arabia has no nuclear power infrastructure and this makes the project challenging but Russia has rich experience in developing such a base, the Russian official said.

Russia and Saudi Arabia executed an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in civilian nuclear sector sphere in summer 2015. "This is a fundamental document opening doors for cooperation between two countries in various application spheres of civilian nuclear technologies," the Russian minister said.