REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA – The Kalimantan railway is one of the main topics of discussion between Russian and Indonesian business forum held in Jakarta on Tuesday. "This business forum is one of the steps of practical agreement reached on October 27," the Russian Ambassador to Indonesia, Alexander Ivanov, said.

In the previous business forum on October 27, Russia and Indonesia have agreed to forge closer relations in the economic sector by boosting trade and expanding ties in other potential sectors, including agriculture and infrastructure. One of the relations is building a railway in Kalimantan that connects Central and East Kalimantan provinces.

"The constructing will be finalized in 2017. The line will be from main site to Balikpapan or the seaport," the Director of Kalimantan Rail, Andrey Shigaev, said.

Right now his team is working on the land issue. They still have to adjust the actual track of the railway. "The main focus is to finalize the landmark," he added. For building the railway, the budget needed is up to 2 billion USD for the port, power station, and the rolling stock.

In other area, Russia also expects to give the technology in mining company, such as nickel smelting plant. "We expect Russian delegation could do the business train to build a network in several economic divisions," Ivanov said.

Ivanov also said the Russian agency on nuclear development would come to Indonesia to speak about Russian nuclear technology. "But Indonesian government has not made a decision on the idea of the construction of nuclear plant. Without political initiation, we cannot start negotiate," Ivanov said.

Adding the Ivanov remarks, Shigaev said that Kalimantan is the right place for nuclear site. "Kalimantan is the most stable area seismically. It is also rich with uranium. That is the good place to build a nuclear station," Shigaev said. 

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