04.03.2009
State nuclear corporation Rosatom and Germany's Siemens, the largest engineering firm in Europe, have signed a memorandum of understanding outlining the creation of a joint venture for nuclear energy, Rosatom said late Tuesday.
The enterprise, in which Rosatom will take a controlling stake of 50 percent plus one share, will work on projects including developing technologies for Rosatom's pressurized water reactors, sales and marketing and building new nuclear power stations, as well as modernizing existing plants.
"Through our partnership with Siemens we want to become leaders of the world market in nuclear energy. I'm sure that we will soon take the next steps," Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko said in a statement on his agency's web site.
The two companies will now begin holding talks on the details of the deal.
In January, Siemens was reported to be eyeing a joint venture with Atomenergoprom, a unit of Rosnano, after it sold a 34 percent stake in Areva, a French nuclear firm.
Speculation swirled that such a joint venture could be imminent after the leadership of the two companies met February in Voronezh, where they agreed to form a strategic partnership. The nuclear partnership received the blessing of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who used his opening speech at the World Economic Forum to suggest that Russia would remain open to foreign investment. Siemens has previously worked with Rosatom on two power plants in Slovakia and a nuclear power station in Bulgaria.
Moscow Times.
