Izvestia: “Putin invites Brazil to join Russia in space”
GLONASS and satellite project promote Russian-Brazilian rapprochement.
Russia sees great potential in promoting joint high-tech projects with Brazil. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer took the first steps toward broadening their partnership at a meeting of the Russian-Brazilian high-level commission on cooperation.
Nearly five years have passed since the last Russian-Brazilian summit. At that time the two countries agreed to increase their bilateral trade to $10 billion, but that goal has not been met yet. Both now use the world economic crisis as a very convenient excuse and promise to continue pursing that goal.
"To achieve further success in bilateral relations, such meetings (of the high-level commission) need to be held every two years," Michel Temer proposed at a meeting with Vladimir Putin.
Putin agreed. "We have many interesting projects and bilateral plans with good prospects," he said.
He suggested straight away that Brazil subscribe to the service of the Russian navigation system GLONASS. Engineers from both countries are already involved in a joint telecommunications satellite project, in modernising the Brazilian launch vehicle VLS-1 and upgrading the Brazilian launch centre, Alcantara.
Energy companies from both countries also agreed to cooperate. Vladimir Putin and Michel Temer attended the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Inter RAO UES and Eletrobras-Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras.
Metallurgy was also a subject of discussion between the two countries. Russia's Mechel and Severstal have acquired large stocks of shares and whole companies in Brazil. Putin also suggested that other joint ventures could be set up soon.
Gazprom's cooperation with the leading Brazilian energy company Petrobras may also be promising, the prime minister added.
But these are all long-term projects. At this stage, according to Temer, the only true symbol of rapprochement between Russia and Brazil is a Brazilian ballerina at the Bolshoi Theatre, which is "an eloquent example of our growing cultural cooperation."
Anastasia Savinykh
