The authoritative in the field of economics, the Argentinean edition “El Cronista Comercial” just days before the official visit of Argentinean President Mauricio Macri to Moscow substantiated the main goal of his trip to the Kremlin – attracting Russian investments to Argentina and increasing the share of Argentinean exports to Russia. Traditionally, the Argentinean government is still interested in developing cooperation in the fields of energy, agrarian industry, infrastructure development, logistics, mechanical engineering, including in the railway sector. The main legal basis for expanding the borders of bilateral cooperation is the agreement on establishing a comprehensive strategic partnership between the countries, which was signed in 2015. It is worth recalling that in the period from 2008 to 2015, according to official data, Russian investments in the Argentinean economy still fell sharply from $ 23 million to $ 4 million.
The Argentinean government over the past year has repeatedly stressed its intention to increase the supply of beef, poultry and seafood to Russia. The newspaper “El Cronista Comercial” also cites the data that Argentina, in the period from January to November of 2017, delivered about $ 479 million worth of products to the Russian food market. The positive trade balance of the Argentine part for this reporting period was $ 153 million.
During the official visit on the 23rd of January of 2018, the leaders of the two countries managed to discuss a number of topical issues of bilateral cooperation, exchange views on the entire range of issues of Russian-Argentinean cooperation, new tasks and long-term objectives were outlined, and a number of topical issues on the international agenda were touched upon. A special topic of the meeting was the assistance rendered by Russia in the search for a sunken Argentinean submarine. This accident again demonstrated that Russian-Argentinean relations can be characterized not only by the numbers of trade turnover or the frequency of meetings of the diplomatic corps, but also by the well-known Russian worldly wisdom “friends are known in trouble”. On the 15th of November of 2017 in the Atlantic Ocean, the Argentinean submarine “San Juan” disappeared. During the last communication session, the seamen (there were 44 people on board) managed to report an emergency situation. On its own, Argentina could not find a submarine, in turn, Russia sent its ships to the other end of the world to help.
The main area of cooperation between the two countries is still energy. A number of the largest Russian companies also held the business breakfast with the President of Argentina, during which new ways of interaction were outlined.
The Russian company “Gazprom” intends to sign an agreement on exploration and production of gas in Argentina. The signing of this agreement is planned during the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2018), scheduled for the end of May, as a result of the business breakfast with the President of Argentina, Mauricio Macri, said the Deputy Chairman of the Board of the company Alexander Medvedev.
The another Russian energy company “Rosatom” has expressed its intention to build the nuclear power plant in Argentina that will meet the most advanced and safe technologies. This topic was also widely discussed at the meeting in the Kremlin. The “Russian Railways” are ready to participate in the program of modernization of the Argentinean railways, to arrange the supply of modern rolling stock. Such large enterprises as “Transmashholding” and “Sinara” declare their interest in investing in the construction of service facilities and the production of railway equipment. The presidents also noted the positive dynamics in the participation of “Gazprombank” in the construction of the largest logistics complex in the port of the province of Buenos Aires. One of the leading Russian power machine building companies, “Power Machines”, continues to service the units at the five Argentinean hydroelectric plants and plans to participate in the tender for the supply of equipment for six more Argentinean hydroelectric power plants.
Within the framework of the meeting, there was an exchange of views on global and regional issues. The leaders of the states confirmed that for most issues on the international agenda positions and opinions are close or coincide. Also, the presidents announced their intention to continue expanding coordination in such international organizations as the UN, the World Trade Organization, and further develop cooperation through integration associations – the Eurasian Economic Union and the South American Common Market. Vladimir Putin stressed that Russia will participate in the G20 Summit, which will be held in Argentina in 2018, and noted that the Russian part shares the Argentinean priorities in the G20 and is committed to practical cooperation in their promotion.
Should we wait for the resumption of strong partner relations between Russia and Argentina? It is unambiguously difficult to predict. However, the fact that the Argentine leader’s visit to Moscow demonstrated a new round in cooperation between the two countries was a clear confirmation of the Russian part’s readiness to strengthen its positions in the Latin American region. Will the foreign policy interests and priorities of Argentina and Russia meet, already in the summer will show the G20 Summit, which will be held this year in Buenos Aires.