At the beginning of October last year, the First International Parliamentary Conference “Russia – Latin America” was held in Moscow.
During the conference, Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin stated that “Russia and Bolivia together stand for the creation of a fair multipolar world and the absence of hegemony.” Of course, unless Russia runs the show.
Speaking of relations between Russia and Bolivia, Bolivia did not support anti-Russian sanctions, submitted an application to join BRICS, and negotiations are underway between the countries on joint projects.
For example, it was reported that Gazprom is working on the implementation of various projects in Bolivia in the oil and gas field, and Rosatom is constructing the highest nuclear facility in the world – the Center for Nuclear Research and Technology (CNRT) in El Alto.
The Russian Gazprom may come with investments to the Bolivian market, there are preliminary negotiations on this topic, Bolivian President Luis Arce said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
“There are preliminary negotiations so that Gazprom can return to the country and make investments,” he said.
Two years ago, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reported that Gazprom was working on the implementation of various projects in Bolivia in the oil and gas field.
In 2016, Gazprom and the Bolivian YPFB signed an agreement to study the promising La Ceiba, Vitiaqua and Madidi blocks. YPFB noted that in January 2019, the Russian company announced its intention to invest in Vitiaqua. However, progress in cooperation was disrupted during the reign of ex-president Jeanine Agnes . The production potential of this field was estimated at 12 million cubic meters per day, equivalent to a quarter of Bolivia’s total gas production.
At the site of the highest-altitude nuclear facility in the world, the Center for Nuclear Research and Technology (CNRT) in El Alto, built by Rosatom on behalf of the Bolivian Atomic Energy Agency (ABEN), a solemn opening ceremony of the multipurpose irradiation center (MIC) took place and installation in the design position of the vessel of Bolivia’s first research reactor.
The ceremony was attended by the President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Luis Alberto Arce Catacora, and the General Director of the Rosatom State Corporation, Alexey Likhachev (via video link).
251.jpeg
The reactor complex, the equipment for which was manufactured in Russia, will allow Bolivia to conduct fundamental and applied scientific research, which will give the country additional tools for the development of various sectors of the economy. The research reactor will also provide the production of radioisotope products and will be used to train future personnel at nuclear facilities.
“Thanks to the multi-purpose irradiation center, we will be able to process agricultural products and subsequently export them in accordance with the standards required to enter international markets. That is why the multi-purpose irradiation center is so important for us, which would be impossible to implement without the cooperation with our brotherly country Russia and the Rosatom State Corporation, which is helping us build the Center for Nuclear Research and Technology here in the city of El Alto,” said Luis Alberto Arce Catacora.
