OREANDA-NEWS. During the Russian-Czech contract exchange held in Yekaterinburg, the Ural enterprises – members of the TVEL Fuel Company’s business control loop – discussed possible cooperation in manufacturing and supply of equipment for nuclear power and industry by the subsidiaries of OJSC “Uralsky electrokhimichesky kombinat” (UEKK) – OOO “Uralpribor” and UZGC with the representatives of ALVEL, a Russian-Czech company (joint venture between ALTA and Fuel Company of Rosatom TVEL). UEKK General Director Alexander Belousov noted that the companies possessed leading-edge technology and sufficient competences to manufacture equipment for the Czech market. However, the negotiations produced no definite outcome, and possible areas of cooperation are being discussed now.

On May 29, 2013, five agreements on cooperation between Russia and Czech Republic were signed in the presence of the Prime Minister of Czech Republic Petr Necas and the Chairman of the Government of Sverdlovsk Region Denis Pasler during the Russian-Czech conference on trade and economic cooperation that was timed to the business visit of a delegation of Czech business circles to Yekaterinburg. The Russian-Czech conference also included the Contract Exchange, an activity aimed at establishing cooperation ties between the business communities of the two countries.

The agreements signed include the agreement on cooperation to promote the use of compressed natural gas as an alternative fuel in Sverdlovsk Region, which was made between Vitkovice Machinery and OOO “ETD Tatarstan-Ural”; the agreement on cooperation to implement the investment project between ALTA Invest, a Czech company, and LTD “Yekaterinburg trade-industrial company” (Ltd ETIC) aimed at implementing a hot zinc plating investment project to galvanize metal structures and pipes for corrosion protection; the protocol of incorporation of a joint venture between Czech companies Smeral Brno a.s. and ROBOTERM Chotebor s.p.o. and Russian company ZAO “Reltech” to manufacture forging and press equipment; and the agreement between Czech companies Smeral Brno a.s., Alcan Strojmetal Aluminium Forging s.r.o. and Russian company Energy Projects CJSC to build a plant for manufacturing forged aluminium parts for automobile industry; and an agreement between Energy LLC and Czech company Invest Holding.

In his welcoming remarks, the Prime Minister of Czech Republic Petr Necas said that Czech Republic had always paid special attention to the development of its relations not only with the entire Russia, but also with the Russian regions. He said that he perceived Yekaterinburg “not only as a crossroads between Europe and Asia, but also as a great opportunity for cooperation.” He noted that a great number of members of the Czech delegation, with more than 80 representatives of business circles participating in the visit, proved that Czech businesses were greatly interested in developing cooperation. He also noted that Czech businesses were interested in promoting cooperation in the field of energy, as well as heavy and transport machine building.

Petr Necas stressed that “Russia is among top 10 partners for Czech Republic not only in the field of supply of fuel and energy resources, but also in the field of supply of consumer goods.” He said that in 2012 the parties achieved a historically record-breaking level of trade turnover, being more than USD 14 billion.

In his turn, the Chairman of the Government of Sverdlovsk Region in his welcoming remarks noted that in 2012 alone the trade turnover between Sverdlovsk Region and Czech Republic had increased by 12% and reached USD 245 million.

The speakers at the Russian-Czech conference on trade and economic cooperation also included Boris Arseyev, Executive Vice-President of JSC Rusatom Overseas, who addressed the topic of Localization in Temelin-3-4 NPP Construction Project and Engagement of Czech Companies in Rosatom's Large-Scale Program for NPP Construction in Russia and in Third Countries. In his report he highlighted that currently Rosatom was the only company in the world to have a complete nuclear fuel cycle. He stressed that Rosatom was building 19 power generation units in foreign countries and 9 units in Russia. He said that Rosatom’s portfolio of orders might include 80 power generation units by 2030, stressing that Russia was ready to consider involvement of foreign partners in every project. From 2008 to 2011, total supplies from Czech Republic amounted to USD 110 million, while in 2012 supplies already increased to USD 100 million.

Currently, Rosatom, as a part of a consortium, filed its bid to construct the 3rd and the 4th power generation units at the Temelin NPP, offering MIT-1200 project. The project assumes that localization in Czech Republic will be approximately 70%. Boris Arseyev said that an agreement on cooperation for low-power SVBR-100 reactor project had been signed with 13 Czech companies. Besides, many Czech companies already established close business relations with Rosatom. “Rosatom’s single supplier catalogue includes more than 30 Czech companies, which makes its possible to perceive them as our partners.” He also added that the cooperation between Russian and Czech companies had a great potential, since Rosatom planned to procure equipment worth more than USD 300 billion by 2030.

Today’s visit was the first visit of the Prime-Minister of the Czech Republic to Yekaterinburg. He also visited Moscow and Saint-Petersburg. It was not for the first time that the Russian-Czech conference on trade and economic partnership was held. Previously, it was held two years ago, in 2011.