Yekaterina Tripoten, analyst of Sovlink

– Cooperation with Siemens may pave the way for Russia into the European market

Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation is ready to pass from one-time projects with Siemens from large-scale partnership in the field of peaceful use of nuclear energy, Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with Chairman of Siemens Peter Löscher on Feb 3 2009. To remind, last week the Supervisory Board of Siemens decided to sell the company’s 34% stake in German-French Areva NP to the holder of the controlling interest, Areva SA.

The cooperation with Siemens may pave the way for Russia into the European market. I suppose that Siemens was not very much happy about its role of junior partner in Areva NP and Russia might attract it with a chance to gain a more significant role in joint projects. This cooperation is an opportunity for Siemens to take part in NPP construction projects and to supply other equipment for NPPs.