Kazakh and Russian Firms Sign Uranium Enrichment Deal

Kazakstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, right, and Russian President Vladimir Putin walk to participate in a business forum in Astana, Kazakhstan on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2016. (Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Firms from Kazakhstan and Russia have signed a deal on uranium-enrichment services, RFERL reports.

The agreement was signed on October 4 in Astana by representatives of Kazakhstan’s uranium operator Kazatomprom and Russia’s Center for Uranium Enrichment during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to Kazakhstan’s capital.

According to the document, Kazakhstan and Russia will jointly take part in projects conducted under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the future.

Kazakhstan is the world’s leading uranium producer, but does not have uranium enriching facilities.

Altogether, 56 business agreements valued at a total of $3 billion were signed at Astana’s Forum on Interregional Cooperation that was attended by Russian and Kazakh businesses.

Putin and his Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev also attended the gathering. (RFERL)