Both heads of state spoke in the context of the 16th BRICS Summit (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which closed on Thursday.

Kremlin sources said that President Vladimir Putin participated along with the head of the Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, and other members of his government, while the Bolivian president was accompanied by Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa and the Bolivian ambassador to Russia, María Luisa Ramos.

“Russian-Bolivian cooperation is based on good traditions of friendship and mutual respect. Bilateral ties are constantly developing in various spheres, including politics, economics, trade, education and culture,” Putin said, according to the Kremlin press service.

Arce, in turn, wrote on social networks that “We are moving forward on an important cooperation agenda on different issues, such as energy, lithium, trade, investment in the area of hydroelectric energy, in disaster and emergency response, and nuclear energy.”

As a concrete result of bilateral cooperation, the construction of the Nuclear Technology Research and Development Center in the Bolivian city of El Alto is underway. This is considered the largest scientific cooperation project between Russia and Latin American countries in the field of high technologies and in strengthening the position of Rosatom Corporation in the global market.

On September 11th, the Bolivian State-owned Strategic Company Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) signed the first joint venture contract with the Russian company Uranium One Group to produce 14 thousand tons of lithium carbonate per year in the Uyuni salt flats. The investment will require an outlay of 970 million dollars and will be based on the use of direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology.

The Kremlin press service reported that Putin said Bolivia and Russia “have consonant positions on the basic principles of world order” and are working together in the United Nations.

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