Comment by the Information and Press Department on Paraguayan Foreign Minister Eladio Loizaga’s visit to Russia

On October 16–18, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Paraguay Eladio Loizaga will pay a working visit to Russia at the invitation of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

During the upcoming October 18 talks, the Foreign Ministers will discuss the further development of political dialogue, including cooperation on the international scene, as well as topical issues of cooperation in trade, economic, scientific, technological, cultural and humanitarian areas.

Mr Lavrov and Mr Loizaga will also review topical issues on the global agenda, including joint efforts to strengthen the UN’s central role in world affairs, multilateral diplomacy, the primacy of international law and cooperation in the fight against new challenges and threats. They will also touch upon cooperation in regional formats involving both countries, for example, between the EAEU and MERCOSUR, and between Russia and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). Russia and Paraguay hold similar positions on a number of international issues, which creates favourable conditions for enhancing constructive bilateral cooperation on the international scene.

During his visit, Mr Loizaga will meet with representatives of the Russian business community and will also deliver a lecture at the Foreign Ministry’s Diplomatic Academy.

The ministers will sign a joint statement after the visit.

In February 2016, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia paid a pastoral visit to Asuncion, held a number of meetings with President of Paraguay Horacio Cartes and Russian compatriots living in Paraguay, conducted a liturgy at the Orthodox Christian cathedral in Asuncion and honoured the memory of Russian officers who were killed in action during the Chaco War of 1932–1935 in Paraguay.

Inter-parliamentary cooperation continues to develop actively. In April 2016, a Paraguayan delegation headed by Mario Abdo Benítez, President of the Senate of Paraguay’s National Congress, visited Russia.

Paraguay ranks among Russia’s leading trade and economic partners in the Latin American region. The countries' bilateral trade turnover totaled $870 million in 2015 and reached $267.8 million in the first six months of 2016. We perceive cooperation prospects with Asuncion during joint prospecting for, developing and extracting hydrocarbon deposits. In October 2015, Russia’s Gazprom EP International B.V and Paraguayan energy company Petropar signed a protocol on further cooperation.

On the sidelines of Mr Loizaga’s visit, there are plans to sign a memorandum of understanding between the Rosatom State Atomic Energy Corporation and Paraguay’s National Service of Radiological and Nuclear Oversight on cooperation in using nuclear energy for civilian purposes, including the development of nuclear medicine, the joint manufacture of isotopes and equipment to irradiate agricultural produce. Cooperation in education continues to develop. For this academic year, Paraguay has filled its quota for sending 20 Paraguayan students to Russia. A visa-free regime, introduced between Russia and Paraguay in 2014, helps expand bilateral exchanges in cultural and humanitarian areas.