Konstantin Zaitsev, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Energy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation:

 — Cooperation in the nuclear power industry may become a good impulse for development of bilateral relations with RSA

According to the Kremlin press service information, Russia and the Republic of South Africa signed several trade and economic agreements in the Kremlin on August 5 in accordance with the results of negotiations between the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and President of the Republic of South Africa Jacob Zuma. In particular, Russian Tekhsnabexport OJSC and South African ESCOM Holdings Ltd concluded a contract for supply of enriched uranium products. The term of the contract is 10 years. The supplies will be commenced in 2001. This Agreement will have made it possible for Russia to occupy 45% of the South African low-enriched uranium market by 2018.

Konstantin Zaitsev, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Energy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation:

RSA plays an important political and economical role in Africa that’s why the bilateral agreement between our countries for supply of enriched uranium is important for the both parties.

RSA is one of the most developed countries in Africa. It owns an operating nuclear power plant that makes it a very interesting partner for the Russian party.

I hope that the agreement on uranium will be followed by a contract for construction of a new NPP in RSA using Russian technologies. Besides, cooperation in the peaceful atom use may become a good impulse for development of bilateral relations concerning in many aspects including the space, extraction of a number of commercial minerals, the more so, as there are some precedents: such titans of the Russian business as Renova, Norilsk Nickel, EurasGroup work in RSA.

In conclusion I’d like to add that in my opinion negotiations with the RSA president are the part of the foreign political tendency of the Russian administration: our gradual return to Africa. In the Soviet times the USSR position in Africa was strong and now we want our influence to return. I’m sure that it completely meets the Russian interests.