Chilean president in Russia for trade, energy talks

MOSCOW. April 2. KAZINFORM Chilean President Michelle Bachelet has arrived in St. Petersburg on a three-day official visit to discuss trade and economic cooperation, including in energy.

During her stay in Russia's second city, Bachelet will hold talks with the city governor, Valentina Matviyenko. Later in the day she will leave for Moscow to attend the Russian-Chilean business forum, and meet with the president and premier. The talks in Moscow with President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are expected to focus on energy, scientific, economic and cultural cooperation, and the lifting of visa requirements for tourists. The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Latin American department, Alexander Dogadin, said in an interview earlier that "the visit will result in the signing of several documents," and that Moscow had high expectations for the talks. Last year, Russian-Chilean trade reached $380 million, with Russian exports, mostly machinery, worth $20 million. Chile exports agricultural goods, wine, fruit and seafood. According to Chilean Deputy Foreign Minister Alberto Van Klaveren, Chile is also interested in cooperating with Russia in the energy sphere. The country imports almost all of the oil and gas it consumes. Relations between Chile and Russia were frozen during the Augusto Pinochet regime, but were resumed in the 1990s, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti.