Grigory Naginsky, chairman of Federation Council Sub-Committee on Nuclear Energy

— Agreement with Toshiba is a good step forward towards our goal

Now that we are planning to build and launch 2–3 nuclear reactors a year in the next 5–6 years (with our foreign contracts exclusive), our machine building industry is facing serious difficulties.

We already have the good example of joint venture with French Alstom, Atomenergomash-Alstom, which is supposed to produce three sets of low-speed turbines, thereby, compensating for the loss of Turbatom, which now belongs to Ukraine. And this will meet the needs of our machine building industry under the federal program for the development of our nuclear industry in 2007–2015.

The same is for Toshiba. The framework agreement with that corporation will, hopefully, let us set up heavy engineering joint ventures in the future.

We may also use the experience of Toshiba in building and engineering of nuclear power plants.

I think that this is a good step forward towards our goal.