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Bolivian president to arrive in Russia on official visit

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Bolivia's President Evo Morales is arriving in Moscow on Sunday on the first official visit by the Bolivian leader to Russia to sign a number of agreements, including in the energy and military-technical sectors.
MOSCOW, February 15 (RIA Novosti) - Bolivia's President Evo Morales is arriving in Moscow on Sunday on the first official visit by the Bolivian leader to Russia to sign a number of agreements, including in the energy and military-technical sectors.

The visit will take place on the invitation of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and will last two days.

"A host of agreements on investment and cooperation in energy, including with Russia's Gazprom, will be signed on February 16," William Donaire, Bolivian deputy minister for the commercialization and industrialization of oil and gas, earlier said.

A Kremlin source said on Saturday that Russia considers Bolivia as a prospective partner in Latin America and Moscow hopes to expand bilateral ties with La Paz in the near future.

"Moscow and La Paz share common views on a number of key global issues, and they are interested in building effective cooperation to face new threats and challenges, including drug-trafficking, illegal arms trade and transnational crime," the source said.

Both sides are also interested in expanding bilateral economic ties to increase and diversify trade, whose volume totaled a mere $5.5 million in 2008, the source added

Russia's Gazprom, which is increasingly looking to the Latin American markets, and France's Total signed an agreement with Bolivia on the joint exploration and production of natural gas in the country in mid-September. Experts estimate investment to reach $4.5 billion.

Bolivia holds second place after Venezuela in terms of gas reserves in Latin America.

Bolivia's natural gas reserves are largely concentrated in the southeast of the country at four major deposits Margarita, San Alberto, Sabalo and Itau.

In May 2006, Morales signed a decree on nationalizing the country's gas industry.

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