Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet on Wednesday with his Slovak counterpart, Ivan Gasparovic, to discuss bilateral cooperation in the military-technical, energy, transport and trade spheres.
The Russian president arrived in Slovakia on Tuesday evening for an official visit to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Bratislava from the Nazis by the Soviet army.
Presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko said military-technical cooperation would be a key topic at Medvedev's talks with Gasparovic.
Prikhodko said Moscow and Bratislava have been in talks on possible modernization of Slovakian helicopters. Russia was recently involved in modernizing 12 Slovakian MiG-29 fighter jets along with the United States and Britain.
"Taking into consideration this positive experience, we are holding talks on similar participation in repairing and modernizing Slovakia's Mi-17 and Mi-35 helicopters," he said.
Energy cooperation is also on the agenda.
"Slovakia plays an important transit role in Russian [gas] supplies to Europe," Prikhodko said. He said some 50 billion cubic meters of gas a year are transported via Slovakia to European countries. Slovakia consumes some 6 billion tons of Russian oil and more than 6 million cubic meters of gas a year, he said.
Cooperation in the transport sphere includes the construction of a rail line linking Bratislava with the Austrian capital, Vienna. An agreement on the joint project, which also involves Austria and Ukraine, was signed in May 2009 in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi. The railway would facilitate the transportation of cargos from the Asia-Pacific region to Europe.
A range of bilateral agreements are expected to be signed during Medvedev's stay in Bratislava, including a framework deal on nuclear fuel supplies from Russia to Slovakia.
The two presidents will also discuss improving bilateral trade and economic ties, which have been hampered by the global recession. Trade turnover between the two countries, which hit a record of $9.6 billion in 2008, was cut by more than 50% in 2009.
Prikhodko said the emphasis would be on developing joint investment projects and cooperation in the high-tech sphere.
This includes the creation of the International Laser Center and the Cyclotron Center of the Slovak Republic in Bratislava, and a proton therapy complex in Ruzomberok. The cyclotron and proton therapy projects are already in the final stages of development.
Medvedev and Gasparovic will also discuss European security issues and Russia's relations with the EU and NATO during their meeting.
After his visit to Slovakia, Medvedev will travel to Prague to sign the historic Russia-U.S. nuclear arms reduction treaty. The pact will replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the cornerstone of post-Cold War arms control, which expired on December 5, 2009.
BRATISLAVA, April 7 (RIA Novosti)
