Mongolia - Cooperation Agreement signed between France and Mongolia

An Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement in the nuclear energy sector was signed between France and Mongolia at Oulan Bator on 14 October by the Mongolian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Zandanshatar, and the French Secretary of State for Foreign Trade, Mrs Anne- Marie Idrac.

It defines, among other things, a clear and solid framework for AREVA to explore and mine uranium in Mongolia. The signature was witnessed by an important Mongolian delegation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and by representatives of the Mongolian Nuclear Energy Agency. The officials included the Ambassador, the Senator of L'Oise and AREVA representatives counting Sébastien de Montessus, Director of the Mining Business Group, and Eric de Sèze, General Manager of AREVA Mongol, accompanied by Konrad Schauer, Director of the Central Asia Platform, and Patrick Bouisset, Geoscience Director of the Mining BG.

Mrs Idrac emphasized that "The most important is that Mongolia considers us as its 'third neighbouring country', which is why we are very happy to collaborate in the nuclear energy field". According to Mr Zandanshatar "this Intergovernmental Cooperation Agreement in the nuclear energy sector opens up possibilities for cooperation between our two countries in other fields".

"Signing this bilateral agreement represents the foundation of our long-term activity in Mongolia, opening the way with the other agreements to come that will govern future joint operations with our Mongolian and Japanese partners", specified Eric de Sèze.


AREVA has been present in Mongolia since 1997 and is represented locally by two subsidiary companies: AREVA Mongol, a 100% subsidiary of the Group, and Cogegobi, a 100% operational subsidiary of AREVA Mongol. Since 2006, AREVA has been operating in Mongolia as part of a Technical Assistance Cooperation programme for the exploration and mining of uranium.