Russia’s Rosatom ready for ‘new large-scale projects’ with Kazakhstan, Putin says
Russian President Vladimir Putin is confident that the Russian state corporation Rosatom is ready «for new large-scale projects» with Kazakhstan, as stated in his article in the Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper. Putin emphasized that Russia is Kazakhstan’s major economic partner.
«Rosatom provides practical assistance in the implementation of nuclear fuel cycle projects and the development of the uranium industry in Kazakhstan. The Russian state corporation, which has unique competencies and technical solutions, often unparalleled in the world, is ready for new large-scale projects with Kazakhstan,» Putin said.
Putin also noted that there are prospects for cooperation between Kazakhstan and Russia in many areas. In particular, he highlighted sector-specific projects and initiatives to foster economic collaboration between the two countries.
«I would like to mention, for example, the ongoing work to expand the eastern branch of the North-South international transport corridor that passes through Kazakhstan, and the creation of the Baiterek space rocket complex at the Baikonur Cosmodrome using the Russian Soyuz-5 rocket carrier», he said.
On Oct. 6, Kazakhstan held a referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant (NPP) in the Almaty region. President Tokayev stated that if citizens support the construction, it should be carried out by an international consortium of companies.
The «Yes» vote won 71.12% in the referendum. The Ministry of National Economy reported that the state will not allocate funds for the NPP construction. Instead, the country’s authorities are considering a project financing scheme. Under this arrangement, funding would be provided by a consortium of international financial institutions, with the loan repaid not from the state budget, but from revenues generated by the NPP.
Kazakhstan is evaluating the following four companies as potential suppliers of nuclear technology: CNNC (China), Rosatom (Russia), KHNP (South Korea) and EDF (France).
