The Federal Nuclear Power Agency (Rosatom) and Interros holding, one of Russia's largest private investment companies, agreed Monday to jointly develop uranium deposits at home and abroad.
Under the agreement, the two sides will cooperate in geological surveying and development of uranium ore deposits in Russia and abroad, as well as in uranium production.
The first joint project could be launched in the fall of 2007, Russia's nuclear chief said.
"Today we have signed a strategic framework agreement covering a broad spectrum of cooperation," Sergei Kiriyenko said, adding that there is good potential in Uzbekistan and Africa, which "have gold and uranium deposits."
He said future joint projects run into many millions of dollars, adding that the construction of a sulfuric acid production plant in the Chita region (Russia's Far East) has a price tag of almost $200 million.
SOURCE: RIA Novosti
DATE: June 19, 2007