May 23 - BBC Monitoring

Russian Federation Federal Atomic Energy Agency head Sergey Kiriyenko is counting on American companies' support in opening the US market for Russian nuclear fuel, he told journalists in Washington, RIA Novosti news agency reported on 23 May.

"The key moment for me is the talks I held in New York on Friday and Saturday [19 and 20 May] with some 20 American energy providers controlling over 50 per cent of energy produced in the USA," Kiriyenko said.

Answering a question of whether he counts on the issue to be lobbied by American companies in Washington, Kiriyenko said: "Frankly, yes, certainly. I think that it is right to do so."

"If we draft our long-term plans according to a principle of what is profitable to us, we will have to work our way with the help of top-level politics alone, because no-one needs us on the market here. Things are different, however, if we are ready to supply goods and services [to the USA] and if American companies controlling this market want to receive these goods and services," Kiriyenko said.

At the negotiations with heads of US energy companies in New York "they said that American companies are not just ready to lobby and support but go to courts and take necessary steps to prove their right" to receive Russian good-quality and effective goods and services, he said. Russia does not support solving this issue in courts of law, though, Kiriyenko added, as reported by RIA Novosti.

Energy security issues have also been discussed in Washington, Kiriyenko has said, ITAR-TASS news agency reported on 23 May.

"We share the view that it will be impossible to ensure global energy security in the next 30-40 years without large-scale development of atomic energy. It requires cooperation as the atomic energy market cannot be a market of one country alone, it is a global market," Kiriyenko said, as reported by ITAR-TASS.

When developing this market, it is necessary "to ensure each country's right to access to cheap and effective atomic energy and guarantee that the non-proliferation treaty is observed", he added.

"I think that an agreement on cooperation and the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is of mutual interest and Russia needs it as much as the USA, and the USA needs it as much as Russia," Kiriyenko said.

"The global market will be measured in tens of billions of dollars a year. When today we raise the issue of lifting discriminatory restrictions regarding the delivery of Russian goods and services to the American market, we, frankly speaking, are fighting not only for the American market," Kiriyenko said.

It is important that principles and rules be created according to which Russia will take part in the world market. "The basic requirement of these rules must be that we should not expect preferences anywhere. At the same time, we must not allow discriminatory restrictions and inequality against ourselves - this is the key thing," Kiriyenko said.

Sources:

RIA Novosti news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0042, 0118 gmt 23 May 06

ITAR-TASS news agency, Moscow, in Russian 0214 gmt 23 May 06

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