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Vladimir Putin: Mr President, friends,

I was very pleased to meet you and have a brief conversation with you in Argentina; and now, we are able to continue our contacts.

I want to note right away that we view Uruguay as a promising partner in Latin America. We have various opportunities for joint projects, including infrastructure development – railroads, port infrastructure, hydroelectric energy and other areas, as well as cooperation in the military technology sector.

Jose Mujica (retranslated): Since we are talking about the economy, I would like to show you a map.

Our country is very small and dignified, but it is located at the crossroads of some very important paths, because we are at the Parana river basin.

(Showing a map.) Look, these are the largest iron ore deposits in the world. It would be logical to take it downstream in the direction of the coast. There is also a very large deposit in Bolivia. These are very large volumes.

Here is Uruguay. It is the gateway to the sea, to the ocean; large ships come here. We are currently developing a project with the Brazilians to jointly develop a major port.

We would also like to invite Russian companies to participate in this project. Moreover, this will be a world-class seaport and China will certainly participate. It is very important for China to work in our market.

In addition, it is possible that there may be large oil deposits in the Rio de la Plata area.

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