Russia
and
Venezuela
signed on Friday an agreement during a visit by President Hugo Chavez to
Moscow
for
Russia
to
build and operate
Venezuela
's
first nuclear power plant, television pictures showed.
The agreement was signed by the head of
Russia
's
atomic energy agency Sergei Kiriyenko at a ceremony in the Kremlin with Chavez
and President Dmitry Medvedev.
Further details were not given about the timing or cost of the construction of
the station but the accord builds on a plan agreed by Prime Minister Vladimir
Putin with Chavez during a visit to
Caracas
in
April this year.
"Why should
Venezuela
not
have a nuclear power station? This gives an independence, including in times
when there is a fall in the price of oil," Medvedev said at a news
conference with the leader of the fellow top oil producer.