Argentine President to arrive on visit in Russia, 20 documents to be signed

BUENOS AIRES, April 21. /TASS/. Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is expected to arrive in Russia on an official visit, in the course of which the two countries will sign more than twenty documents on cooperation in various spheres, diplomats at the Russian embassy in Buenos Aires and officials at the Argentine Foreign Ministry told TASS. Virtually a half of members of the Argentine cabinet accompany Cristina de Kirchner on this trip. The delegation includes Foreign Minister Hector Timerman, Economics and Finance Minister Axel Kicillof, Federal Planning and Public Utilities Minister Jiulio de Vido, Industry Minister Debora Giorgi, Defence Minister Agustin Rossi, Agriculture Minister Carlos Casamiquela, and Culture Minister Teresa Parodi (Teresa Adelina Sellares). The Kremlin press service said earlier Vladimir Putin and Cristina de Kirchner will hold talks on Thursday, April 23. "They will discuss implementation of the agreements, which the two sides reached during Putin’s visit to Buenos Aires in July 2014, and will exchange opinions on the parameters of future trade and economic relations and bilateral investment," it said. One of the most broadly expected events will be the signing of a framework agreement between Gazprom and the Argentine oil company YPF. It may lay the groundwork for development of the huge shale gas deposit Vaca in Argentina’s western Neuquen province. Also, the two sides are looking forward to the signing of an agreement between Rusatom Overseas company, a subsidiary of Russia’s state nuclear power corporation Rosatom, and Nucleoelectrica Argentina, as well as a memorandum on cooperation in the commercial nuclear power industry. De Kirchner said at the opening of the Argentine parliament’s session on March 1, 2015, the national government had the plans to build a sixth power generating unit on the Atucha nuclear plant compound. The reactor will be based on Russian nuclear technologies. In addition, Russia and Argentine hope to sign a memorandum of understanding between contractors on construction of the Chihuido hydropower plant on the river Nuequen. Last December, a consortium of companies including the Russian corporation INTER RAO Export won a bidding contest for construction of the hydropower project. As much as 85% of finance for the latter is expected to come from Russia’s Vnesheconombank that will issue a long of $ 1.5 billion of a period of twenty years. Read more