"Our enterprises - Renova and Vneshtorgbank - already hold licenses to produce uranium in Namibia. We agreed to found a joint venture to prospect and produce uranium," Sergei Kiriyenko said after a meeting with Namibia's president, Hifikepunye Pohamba.
Russian Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev said Renova had won a tender to develop two uranium deposits in Namibia, whereas Russia's state-run foreign-trade bank Vneshtorgbank had received its license earlier.
Kiriyenko said: "We are ready to produce electric power together and sell it together."
Namibia's prime minister said earlier Friday his country and Russia are discussing the possible use of Russian nuclear technology to make up for Namibia's energy deficit.
Namibia expects a reduction in energy supplies from South Africa in the next three years and forecasts an energy deficit of 300 megawatts.
"The Russian side said there are a number of available technologies, one of them being nuclear," Nahas Angula told journalists after a meeting with the Russian delegation.
Angula said the environmental and economic expediency of using nuclear technology in bilateral cooperation should be assessed, adding that Namibia produces uranium.
The Namibian premier said he discussed cooperation prospects with Trutnev and Kiriyenko.
Angula also said one of urgent problems was to help south African countries, including Namibia, satisfy their energy needs.
In January, Renova Group, a management company, and Techsnabexport, Russia's state-run nuclear exporter, signed a cooperation agreement to set up joint ventures as part of a joint investment project to prospect and develop uranium deposits in Africa and Asia.
Techsnabexport and Russia's leading asset management company, headed by tycoon Viktor Vekselberg, plan to set up joint ventures in South Africa, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, the company said in a statement.
Minister of Mines and Energy Erkki Nghimtina said Namibian authorities hope for Russia's assistance in developing a state policy in the uranium sphere, which would make it possible to cancel a moratorium on uranium production licensing in the country.
"It would be good if our friends could help us form a policy in this sphere, as this could speed up the cancellation of the moratorium," he said.
The moratorium on uranium production was imposed in Namibia several weeks ago for security reasons, the minister said.
"There are countries that behave not seriously: they receive licenses, make money and leave," he said.
Nghimtina said the uranium industry is very important for Namibia, and that his country needs a national policy dealing with nuclear fuel issues.
Anna Belova, a Techsnabexport representative, said her company and Renova are ready to start geological prospecting work in Namibia, and that licenses could be formalized later.
