On April 14, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is to pay an official visit to Argentina, the first Russian official visit since bilateral diplomatic relations were established 125 years ago, that is, in October 1885.
On April 14, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is to pay an official visit to Argentina, the first Russian official visit since bilateral diplomatic relations were established 125 years ago, that is, in October 1885.
BRUSSELS, January 7 (RIA Novosti) - Bulgaria has offered the European Commission to reanimate its Kozloduy nuclear power plant, mothballed over EU accession requirements, the Belgian Libre Belgique newspaper reported on Wednesday. The Bulgarian proposal is being viewed as a way to ensure European energy security amid the gas conflict between Moscow and Kiev, which halted Russian natural gas transit via Ukraine earlier on Wednesday. Other East European states are also seeking to reduce energy dependence on Russia. Lithuania, which receives Russian gas via Belarus, is also seeking to extend the life of the second reactor of its Ingalina nuclear power plant, while Poland insists that the construction of the Nabucco pipeline project to pump Caspian gas to Europe bypassing Russia be sped up, the paper said. The authorities at the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, which has a large liquefied gas storage facility, said it could meet gas demand in Western Europe. Zeebrugge, one of Europe"s major gas terminals, receives liquefied gas shipped from Qatar and Algeria, and also has two pipelines pumping gas from Norway and Britain. The Russian gas monopoly said that so far this year, European consumers had failed to receive more than 86 million cubic meters of gas, tapped by Ukraine. Russia demanded that Ukraine make up the volume from its own reserves. Kiev closed on Wednesday the fourth, final gas pipeline pumping Russian gas to Europe. The latest closure added Austria, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovakia to the growing list of countries receiving no Russian gas. The three other pipelines were closed on Tuesday, ending deliveries via Ukraine to Hungary, Serbia, Macedonia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Turkey, Greece, and Bosnia. Supplies to Italy, Poland, France and Slovenia are seriously disrupted.