Russia, Serbia sign agreement on nuclear cooperation

By Firdevs Yuksel

ANKARA (AA) - Russia and Serbia signed a strategic cooperation document for the peaceful use of nuclear energy, Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom said on Thursday.

The agreement, signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Serbia, includes the construction of a center of nuclear science, technology and innovation, according to the company's statement.

"In particular, the implementation of the project to build the center of nuclear science, technology and innovation will not only give a powerful impetus to bilateral cooperation between Russia and Serbia in a number of innovative areas, including medicine, industry and agriculture, but will also serve as a platform for cooperation at the level of the entire Central European region," Likhachev said.

The agreement also allows for cooperation in several areas, including the creation and improvement of Serbian nuclear energy infrastructure, design, construction and modernization of research nuclear reactors, radiation technologies application in agriculture and industry, education, training and retraining of specialists for the nuclear industry, as well as nuclear medicine development.

According to the company, both Putin and Serbian President Alexander Vucic attended the signing ceremony.

Alexey Likhachev, director general of Rosatom signed the documents on Russia's behalf, while Nenad Popovich, Serbia's minister in charge of innovation and technological development, signed them on Serbia's behalf.

The Russian company has 36 nuclear reactor construction projects in different countries, including Bangladesh, Belarus, China, Egypt, Finland, Hungary, India, Iran and Turkey.

According to the company, its package of foreign orders in 2018 exceeded $130 billion.