UrBC, Chelyabinsk, November 13, 2017. Russian Copper Company’s Chair of the BOD Igor Altushkin and Akim of Aktyubinsk Oblast, Kazakhstan Berdybek Saparbayev signed a memorandum on investment cooperation, the company press service reports.

The document was signed at the 14th Interregional Russia-Kazakhstan Forum on November 9, 2017. Russian President Vladimir Putin and President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbeyev were present at the ceremony.

‘The two parties agreed to work together on geological survey projects and industrial development of copper and zinc ore deposits in Aktyubinsk Oblast as well as to invest in Russian Copper Company’s Kazakhstan-based assets,’ the press service says.

Russian Copper Company has been operating in Kazakhstan since 2004 and has already invested $868m in the country’s economy, including $128m in current investments. The company’s Russian and Kazakh assets are integrated into a single production chain, which results in economic development synergy in the two countries’ adjacent territories.

The company currently employs around 1,700 people at its Kazakh branch, with another 600 people working for its local contractors. The business pays over $1m in tax payments to Aktyubinsk Oblast every year. Besides, Russian Copper Company has been investing heavily in infrastructure development since the moment it arrived in the country.