RUSSIA and Uzbekistan signed an accord on Monday for Moscow to build a small nuclear power plant in the Central Asian country.

This came after talks in the Uzbek capital between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Uzbekistan leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

Mr Mirziyoyev hailed the project as “vital,” noting that Uzbekistan has “its own large reserves of uranium.”

President Putin, in turn, vowed to “do everything in order to work effectively on Uzbekistan’s nuclear energy market.”

If the agreement is implemented, the plant would become the first in Central Asia, further increasing Russia’s influence in the region.

Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti quoted the Russian energy corporation, Rosatom, as saying that the project envisions building six reactors with a total capacity of 330 megawatts. 

President Putin also promised to increase gas deliveries to Uzbekistan.

The Russian president arrived in Tashkent on Sunday in his third foreign trip since being inaugurated for a fifth presidential term earlier this month.

He first went to China, where he expressed appreciation for China’s proposals for talks to end the Ukraine conflict, and later to key ally Belarus.