VZCZCXRO3006
PP RUEHIK
DE RUEHSL #0500/01 3341719
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 301719Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0289
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RHEHAAA/NSC WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHSL/AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA 0337

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRATISLAVA 000500 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/CE J. MOORE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL ENRG RS LO
SUBJECT: FICO'S RUSSIA TRIP: VAGUE PROMISES AND A NICELY PAINTED CAR 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000500  001.3 OF 002 
 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) PM Robert Fico's jaunt to Moscow on November 16 was 
criticized for its timing (the day before Slovakia officially 
celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of Communism) as 
well as the deliverables.  The latter include more talk of a 
joint venture with Gazprom and a wide-gauge rail extension to 
the Austrian border, and a new agreement for Russia to provide 
nuclear power technology to Slovakia.  With few substantive 
deliverables, the trip seemed mainly a plea for continuous gas 
this winter and an affirmation of good feelings between Fico and 
whoever is on the throne in Moscow.  End summary. 
 
IT'S ... A FREE CAR! 
-------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) As Fico set out for Moscow, a young KDH (Christian 
Democrat) political activist staged a colorful piece of 
political street theater to protest the premier's departure for 
Moscow the day before the twentieth anniversary of the fall of 
Communism.  He left a bright red Ziguli car on the street in 
front of Fico's government office, painted neatly with the 
slogans, "I'm Red Robbie's car, heading for Moscow," "Decent 
people celebrate, Bolsheviks flee," and "November '89: 'I didn't 
notice it!'"  The protest received wide press coverage which 
continued through the end of the week. 
 
GASSING ON ABOUT GAS 
-------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) As to the substance of Fico's visit, Fico and Putin 
were said to have discussed a joint venture on gas between the 
GoS and Gazprom, which would compete with the Slovak monopoly 
SPP to distribute gas and build gas storage in Slovakia.  The 
two have talked about this possibility in vague terms at 
previous meetings, and the statement issued at the end of this 
meeting seemed to indicate that the idea has not progressed much 
since then.   Putin identified the project as simply an 
opportunity to be discussed; a later meeting with Gazprom's 
Alexey Miller had the two agreeing to start expert 
consultations.  According to FM Lajcak, Fico and Putin also 
discussed scenarios for the coming months and PM Putin suggested 
that a reprise of last year's gas cutoff was a distinct 
possibility. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The reason for Fico's interest in inviting Gazprom onto 
his home turf is clear: he needs financing for more gas storage, 
particularly in eastern Slovakia, and he is itching for a 
competitor to SPP.  While this latter point sounds illogical, 
given that the GoS owns 51% of SPP, Fico hates the fact that he 
does not fully control the company and its transit revenue, and 
he misses no opportunity to threaten his French and German 
partners with nationalization.  As for the Russians, it is 
doubtful the thankless business of distributing gas to the tiny 
Slovak market would have much appeal, but nosing into the 70 
bcma transit business--about 2/3 of Russian gas to Europe--is 
altogether another matter. 
 
GLOWING ABOUT NUCLEAR COOPERATION 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) Of slightly more substance was the nuclear power 
cooperation agreement signed with AtomStroyExport.  The exact 
terms are not clear, and if this agreement has anything in 
common with similar ones penned previously, it is a general 
statement of good intentions between comrades in peaceful 
cooperation.  The agreement follows a meeting of the 
Russian-Slovak working group on nuclear power, created last year 
as part of a broader bilateral commission on economic and 
scientific cooperation.  The working group's statement mentions 
Russian interest in completion of the new reactors at the 
Mochovce power plant, renovation of the currently operating 
reactors at Mochovce and Jaslovske Bohunice, and installation of 
new reactors in Slovakia.  Most interestingly, only the Russian 
side trumpeted the agreement.  The GoS has kept quiet about the 
nuclear agreement, though it is hard to tell whether this is 
because it is cool to the idea of morQRussian reactors or wary 
of public scrutiny for a coming sweetheart deal. 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Russians made mention of the desire to step up 
cooperation on the Bratislava cyclotron, a research-for-debt 
project that has become a warehouse for aging Slovak physicists 
and a backwater of research.  The GoS promised more funding, 
which, since it is all aimed at buying Russian hardware, seems 
to have made the Russians happy. 
 
BRATISLAVA 00000500  002.3 OF 002 
 
 
 
PLAYING WITH TRAINS 
------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) The Moscow visit also give Fico a chance to push 
another of his hobby-horse projects: the extension of a 
wide-gauge railway from Kosice to the Austrian border.  The 
economic logic of this extension is not obvious, but he was 
happy to bring the project up again in his joint statement.  The 
joint statement curiously expresses satisfaction with Slovak and 
Russian engineers' progress in extending the railway, conjuring 
images of engineers toiling over drafting tables and visiting 
busy work sites.  Putin's statement, on the other hand, merely 
speaks of a possibility to be explored in upcoming discussions. 
Who will pay for this multi-billion euro project, or even 
whether either side takes it at all seriously, remains to be 
seen. 
 
COMMENT: WHAT'S REAL IN THIS PICTURE? 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) With so little accomplished, what really was the point 
of the Fico visit?  It seems to have been a good opportunity for 
Fico to plead for his reliable energy partner not to cut off the 
gas again, and for the reliable partner to show off a happy if 
somewhat nervous customer.  Certainly the list of joint projects 
is to be taken with more than a grain of salt, but the 
expression of warm feelings toward Moscow, and the intent to 
cooperate on state-funded projects for which each side hopes the 
other has some money, seems sincere enough.  The two real bits 
of all this talk (besides the obvious bit about gas) seem to be 
about the Slovaks' desire to get some free infrastructure from 
its old sponsor, and the sponsor's desire to get deeper into the 
energy business in Slovakia. 
EDDINS