Russia and Argentina Team Up on Energy

Gazprom and Argentina’s national petroleum company YPF have signed a memorandum of cooperation that covers future bilateral activities including exploration, production and transmission of hydrocarbons in Argentina and other countries.

Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Miguel Galuccio, Chief Executive Officer of the Argentine national petroleum company YPF, signed the memorandum of cooperation in Moscow on Thursday.

The ceremony was held in the presence of Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of the Republic of Argentina.

Russia’s Rosatom also signed a similar deal for a nuclear power plant in Argentina. 

Putin and Fernandez hailed the agreements as opening a new stage in relations. “We have set new goals and long-term objectives. And as you have seen, a serious package of documents has been signed,” said Putin. 

According to The Medi Telegraph, Putin also expressed support for Argentina’s efforts with Britain to find a “speedy and peaceful settlement to the dispute over the Malvinas islands”, known as the Falkland Islands by Britain.

Putin toured South America last year, visiting Brazil, Cuba and Argentina to look for new partnerships after EU sanctions over the nation’s actions in the Crimea.

YPF has also said that Argentina is keen to reverse an energy deficit that could take a $200 billion investment to erase, says The Medi Telegraph.