Izvestia: "Uranium-fuelled friendship"
Russia and Mongolia have agreed on cooperation expansion.
Russia and Mongolia have agreed to set up a joint uranium mining company. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Mongolian counterpart Sükhbaataryn Batbold have signed an agreement on the basic terms and conditions of this joint venture.
From now on, cooperation between Russia and Mongolia will go beyond the import of camel-hair blankets and leather slippers. The two countries' prime ministers raised cooperation to a high technological level. At their meeting yesterday they agreed to set up a uranium-mining company called Dornod Uran.
"Mongolia's policy calls for the further development of our relations. We even make unconventional decisions in favour of our relations with Russia on certain issues," the Mongolian prime minister said hinting at the fact that the decision on uranium mining was not an easy one for his country.
At the same time, Batbold was counting on reciprocal steps from Russia. "Mongolian business leaders are as interested as the government in the expansion of our relations with Russia. We expect some tangible improvements to benefit Mongolia and our relations – primarily the liberalisation of trade," he said adding that Russia's customs tariffs were too high.
The two prime ministers also discussed cooperation in transport. Russia and Mongolia agreed to make equal contributions of $125 million to the authorised capital of the Russian-Mongolian company Ulan-Bator Railway. This will help overhaul the company and boost the development and modernisation of the railway infrastructure. Vladimir Putin pointed out that Russia was ready to carry out its part of the deal "while not waiting for Mongolia to carry out its part."
Anastasia Savinykh
