BRATISLAVA, July 27, (WEBNOVINY) — The cyclotron center project in Bratislava is currently on hold. According to the Ministry of Economy and Construction, Slovakia has not received a confirmation from Russia concerning the possibility of capital entry of Russian companies into the project through the formation of a joint venture. „Currently, we are expecting nominations into a working group on part of the Russia, so that we can begin to negotiate the terms for a Slovak-Russian joint venture,“ the ministry told SITA news agency.
The ministry did not comment on the deadline for completion of the center, which has been dragging on since 1996, or the financial costs. „Everything depends on an agreement with a strategic partner. In the case of an entry of a Russian financial partner, it is recommended to complete the investment in the shortest possible time to minimize future losses arising from the need to preserve the unfinished construction, as well as the need to shift the technological part of the investment to the territory of Slovakia and its installation as quickly as possible,“ the ministry added.
The ministry does not recommend a long-term preservation of unfinished construction or its demolition, as it would generate unduly high costs and would mean a thwarted investment. According to previous statements of the Office for Standards, Metrology and Testing, which is overseeing the entire project, the center could be completed within 24 months from the establishment of the joint venture. The office estimated the financial resources necessary for the completion of the center and its ten-year operating costs at the level of USD 100 million.
Last year the government agreed to the completion of the center by a means of a Slovak-Russian joint venture. The project was included among strategic priorities with regard to national interest. Before the visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the beginning of April, a memorandum that deals with the establishment of the Slovak-Russian scientific-research Cyclotron Center Company was signed in Bratislava.
The joint scientific and research enterprise of the Cyclotron Center in Bratislava should be kept under the state supervision of both parties, and its activities should be directed at the promotion of bilateral and international research in the application of modern technologies of particle accelerators, the development of medicine, the development of micro-and nano- technologies, new materials research, and the implementation of scientific and educational projects.
Once the agreement is unblocked, Cyclotron should be delivered to Slovakia by Russia. The first supply contract was already signed in 1996.
SITA