Russia Ready to Offer Nuclear Technology to Algeria

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that Russia is ready to offer Algeria its technology and technical solutions if a decision is made to establish a national nuclear industry as well as to develop cooperation in other spheres.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russia is ready to offer Algeria its technology and technical solutions if a decision is made to establish a national nuclear industry, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with the Algerian news agency APS ahead of his visit to the country.

"If the Algerian authorities decide to develop the country’s nuclear industry, we will be happy to offer our technology and solutions," Medvedev said.

Russia is already preparing nuclear industry specialists for Algeria, the prime minister noted.

"At the same time, we are willing to discuss clean energy projects, namely wind and solar farms," Medvedev added.

"Russia and Algeria are major exporters of gas to Europe. This allows us to coordinate our actions at international venues, including the Gas Exporting Countries Forum and also OPEC when the issue concerns oil. Russia highly values this dialogue, which offers opportunities for compromise," Medvedev added.

The prime minister pointed out that energy issues played a special role in the bilateral relations.

"Many Russian companies are actively involved in hydrocarbon exploration and production projects in Algeria, as well as the construction and renovation of oil and gas pipelines and other infrastructure projects," Medvedev noted. He said that the further development of cooperation depended on both countries.

Medvedev also said that Russia wants to develop industrial cooperation as well as cooperation in other spheres with Algeria.

"Our industrial cooperation is one of the most important areas. Large Russian companies, such as Power Machines and Gazprom, have been working successfully in Algeria’s power engineering and geological exploration sectors. Renault Russia delivers car bodies to Algeria for the final assembly. We plan to deliver 18,000 car bodies this year and have already shipped over half of this number. Plans for the future provide for expanding deliveries by shipping other car parts as well," Medvedev said.

The prime minister also pointed out that Moscow was ready to export finished goods to Algeria as well as to engage in energy cooperation.

"Of course, we are ready to export finished goods, including civilian aircraft, cars, farming and railway equipment, as well as machine tools. We are actively cooperating in the energy sector and have many successful oil and gas projects to our credit," Medvedev noted.

"Algeria buys large amounts of grain, while Russia is the world’s leading grain exporter. We clearly can be useful to each other. Closer cooperation in this sphere can have a positive impact on our trade," the prime minister also said.

Medvedev added that the countries were also discussing cooperation in the spheres of mineral resources, water transportation, high technology, space exploration, construction and pharmaceuticals. In 2016, the Russian-Algerian trade doubled reaching almost $4 billion.

Medvedev will visit Algeria on Monday and Tuesday. He is expected to meet with country's president and prime minister as well as heads of both chambers of the Algerian parliament. The parties will discuss boosting the bilateral cooperation and are expected to sign a number of intergovernmental, interdepartmental and corporate agreements.