Putin says Russian-Bolivian trade turnover still small, but has good growth trends

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the trade turnover between his country and Bolivia is still small, but has good growth trends.

“The total volume of trade turnover in monetary terms is still small, but it has good growth trends,” Putin said during a meeting with his visiting Bolivian counterpart Luis Arce, who arrived in Russia to take part in the 27th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) that began on Wednesday.

Expressing that Russian-Bolivian relations are developing on a solid foundation taking into account each other’s interests, Putin said there are interesting areas of cooperation between the two countries, including the field of technology.

He further recalled work being conducted by Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom in building the Center for Nuclear Technology Research and Development in the city of El Alto.

He went on to express his certainty that Arce will make a significant contribution to the work of SPIEF.

“I hope you will be interested in taking part in the discussions that are already going on at the forum, which will take place tomorrow,” he added.

For his part, Arce said Bolivia is interested in expanding cooperation with Russia and is grateful to Moscow for the implementation of joint projects, including the Center for Nuclear Technology Research and Development.

“We still need to implement a project for the production of lithium-based batteries in Bolivia with a Russian company,” (and) we will work in other areas of cooperation between Russia and Bolivia,” he said.