Fico Considers Russia to Be Reliable Power Engineering Partner
Moscow, August 26 (TASR) – When it comes to power engineering, we perceive Russia as a reliable partner and supplier, said Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, TASR learnt on Friday.
The talks allegedly didn’t provide any answers as for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that would economically damage Slovakia. Despite the unclear future of this project Fico said that “we’ve succeeded in asserting our national interests and whether the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will be built or not, it won’t have an impact on the amount of gas transported through Slovakia.” Fico reminded that if the Russian gas had ceased to transit via Slovakia’s pipeline, the latter would have lost around €800 million.
The two have also discussed the drop of trade between Slovakia and Russia. Both of them would like to revive the mutual economic relations via a meeting of the Slovak-Russian Intergovernmental Commission that is scheduled for January 2017. Fico reiterated that the trade has been influenced by the sanctions the EU has imposed on Russia and described them again as noxious for both sides.
Putin and Fico have come to agreement in the area of science. The cooperation concerns the scientific centre in the Russian town of Dubno, where Slovak scientists would be able to work with a particle accelerator. Moscow has promised to offer scholarships to Slovak nuclear physicists, while the student exchange programme will continue as well.
