YEREVAN’S U.S. $5BN MESSAGE TO MOSCOW

news.am
Dec 4 2009
Armenia

On December 3, the Armenian Government made a decision establishing
a joint venture in cooperation with the AtomStroyEksport
(AtomConstructionExport) CJSC (Russia). The joint venture is supposed
to carry out the construction of a new nuclear-power unit in Armenia.

After the decision was made, RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan stated:
"We are making a political decision today. We agree to establish
an equally shared joint venture in cooperation with our Russian
partners." The RA Government represented by the RA Ministry of Energy
and Natural Resources will hold the Armenian side’s share.

The construction of a new nuclear power unit in Armenia is one of the
priority strategic tasks of the Armenian Government. AREVA (France)
and Westinghouse (USA) were competing with the Russian Rosatom Company,
with AtomConstructionExport constituting part thereof. The American
side attached high importance to the participation in the project,
which was repeatedly stated by high-ranking U.S. officials.

In any case, the decision was made, and, as the Armenian Premier
plainly stated, it was a political one.

This decision must be the unambiguous message addressed to Moscow by
RA President Serzh Sargsyan at his meeting with representatives of the
Armenian community in Rostov, Russia, as part of his pan-Armenian
tour. Responding to a question concerning the prospects of the
Armenian-Russian relations in the context of the Armenian-Turkish
reconciliation, the Armenian leader stated that the reopening of the
Armenian-Turkish border can by no means be to the detriment of the
Armenian-Russian relations. "An event will soon take place, which
will dispel all the doubts of sceptics claiming that Armenian-Russian
relations are on the decline," stated Serzh Sargsyan. Indeed, Rosatom’s
involvement in a project worth U.S. $4m to U.S. $5m is a serious step,
which leaves no doubts about Yerevan’s determination to carry out
mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia.

What about Russia? That country appears to be determined as well.

Especially after Turkey invalidated the results of a contest which
allowed AtomConstructionExport to carry out the construction of the
first nuclear-power plant in Turkey, Russia has lately been actively
seeking closer relations with. The Turkish authorities invalidated
the results without being afraid of the political consequences of
their step, which may not arise at all.

Moreover, the only result of the "restarted" Russia-U.S. relations
is Russia’s weakening international positions. Specifically, the
first and principal result of the much talked-about "restart" is
Russia’s dramatically worsened relations with Iran. While Washington
is applauding, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plainly stated
that Russia had committed a blunder. Moscow, in turn, postponed the
commissioning of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. That is, Russian
atomic scientists fell into a political trap in Iran as well.

Furthermore, the new Bulgarian Government that succeeded that headed by
Sergei Stanishev initiated the revision of all the major transactions
closed by their pro-Russian predecessors. Among them is also the
construction project of the Belene nuclear-power plant (NPP), which
was considered one of the most successful international projects
launched by Rosatom. The newly appointed Bulgarian Ministers claim
that their country does not need the Belene NPP, and the previous
Government made a political decision by allowing Russians to enter
the Bulgarian energy market.

Well, under the circumstances the Armenian Government’s decision really
appears to a political one. It enables the Russian state-run holding to
consolidate its positions in the South Caucasus-Turkey-Iran region, as
well as breaks the chain of hardly pleasant events in Russia’s rather
ambitious international nuclear policy. Let us hope that Russia will
act as a partner and continue supporting Armenia — its partner in
the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), where Russia has
its only military basis in the region – on the international scene
as well as in overcoming the global economic crisis. Supporting your
partners means strengthening yourself.