Ambassador Tolchenov states that Indonesia-Russia energy cooperation continues to develop
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Russian Ambassador to Indonesia, Sergei Tolchenov, stated that energy cooperation between Indonesia and Russia continues to develop, from discussions on nuclear energy to supplies of oil and gas to support national energy resilience.
“The nuclear energy issue is currently still in the preparation stage because Indonesia is making the final decision to include nuclear energy in the national energy mix,” said Tolchenov in an exclusive interview with ANTARA at his residence in Jakarta on Tuesday.
He explained that legally, Indonesia has also not yet given approval for building nuclear power plants (PLTN) or developing related technology.
Nevertheless, he said, discussions between the two countries continue at the government level as well as between institutions such as BRIN, ESDM, PLN, and Russia’s Rosatom regarding the potential for further cooperation in the nuclear sector.
“When Indonesia later states that it will develop nuclear energy, we are ready to immediately start practical negotiations regarding the implementation of that project,” he said.
He added that Russia is ready to build large-scale PLTN or small modular reactors (SMR), both on land and floating.
“I want to emphasise that Russia only provides to foreign partners the technology that we also use in our own territory — high-quality technology that has been proven, very safe, and of course efficient,” he stated.
He explained that Russia currently has 11 nuclear power plants with nearly 40 nuclear reactor units. According to him, the combination of nuclear energy and natural gas makes around 80% of Russia’s energy classified as green energy because it has low or almost zero emissions.
In addition to the nuclear sector, he continued, Russia has also expressed its readiness to support Indonesia’s energy resilience through supplies of crude oil and natural gas.
“We agree that Russia can supply crude oil to Indonesia. However, further details such as price, delivery time, and distribution destinations will be discussed by business circles because oil and gas sales in Russia are carried out by state-owned and private companies,” he said.
He emphasised that Russia is a very responsible and reliable energy resource supplier.
“Indonesia is our friend, and we intend to develop such cooperation with friendly countries, including Indonesia,” he said.