Official website of the President of Russia

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Ladies and gentlemen, Mr President,

Our talks with our friends from Ecuador, with the delegation headed by President Rafael Correa, have just ended. We discussed all bilateral issues in detail and exchanged views on some international ones.

Relations between our countries are developing on the basis of the principles enshrined in our Strategic Partnership Declaration. One of its central themes is the expansion of trade and economic ties. Ecuador is one of Russia’s leading partners in Latin America. Our trade has doubled over the past five years, reaching $1.3 billion, and in the first 8 months of this year it increased by another 11 percent.

Today we talked about how it’s imperative that we diversify our ties and develop investment cooperation. We just signed an agreement on financing a gas turbine power generation unit and a steam turbine at Termogas Machala thermal power plant in Ecuador. Inter RAO will work on implementing this project from the Russian side. New projects worth approximately $1.5 billion are coming up.

”I am confident that the partnership between Russia and Ecuador will continue to flourish for the benefit of our nations, and help further peace and stability.“

We also discussed the possibility of attracting Russian businesses to get involved in implementing major industrial programmes in Ecuador, including in infrastructure, particularly railway infrastructure. Our countries have great opportunities to cooperate in prospecting and extracting hydrocarbons. During our talks we paid special attention to cooperation in high-tech sectors.

Russia and Ecuador successfully cooperate in combating organised crime and drug trafficking. We intend to continue to actively cooperate in the fight against terrorism financing, money laundering, and cybercrime.

Our cultural, educational and scientific links are growing stronger. We will continue the practice of providing scholarships to Ecuadorian undergraduate and graduate students. At present more than 4,000 Ecuadorians have been educated in our country.

Today active integration processes are underway in Latin America, and Russia is interested in expanding contacts with regional associations there.

In conclusion, I want to thank President Correa for the detailed and useful conversation. I am confident that the partnership between Russia and Ecuador will continue to flourish for the benefit of our nations, and help further peace and stability.

Thank you very much for your attention.