MOSCOW, May 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russia may join Nicaragua's Interoceanic Grand Canal project and is now discussing forms of cooperation, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told RIA Novosti in an interview Tuesday.
“We have repeatedly discussed this issue with our Nicaraguan colleagues… whom we look forward to see at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. We are searching for suitable forms for Russia to join this project,” said Ryabkov, who also co-chairs the Russia-Nicaragua intergovernmental commission on economic and scientific cooperation.
Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov visited Nicaragua, along with Cuba, Chile and Peru.
The project to lay a canal connecting the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, with an estimated cost of about $40 billion, is expected to become a rival to the Panama Canal. Nicaragua authorities expect to begin the construction in late 2014.
China’s HKND is the main investor in the project.
