The Venezuelan parliament has ratified an agreement with Russia on nuclear cooperation, which includes the construction of a nuclear plant in Venezuela, local media reported.
A report issued on Tuesday by a parliamentary commission in charge of the deal said "with the launch of the nuclear power plant Venezuela will be able to save up to a billion dollars a year by exporting 15 million barrels of oil which are now spent on producing the equivalent volume of electricity."
The opposition has claimed that the agreement, signed during Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Russia on October 15, was "unbeneficial for Venezuela."
The Russian state-run nuclear corporation said it was ready to build a nuclear plant in Venezuela "within ten years or earlier," which would make it the first Russian company to build a nuclear facility in Latin America.
BUENOS AIRES, November 10 (RIA Novosti)
