According to a statement made on Thursday, by Brazil’s ambassador to Russia, Brazil is courting Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom, seeking investment in Brazil’s energy sector.

In an interview with news outlet RIA Novosti, at the Prodexpo exhibition, ambassador Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares said,  “We have a new legal framework for the Brazilian gas sector, we expect investments from Gazprom in Brazil so that we have a serious presence of a large Russian company.”

Brazil’s National Confederation of Industry maintains the country could see as much as $29 billion in foreign investment by 2030 due to the new law.

Brazil and Russia have been strengthening their energy ties, as fellow members of the BRICS alliance. Last year Brazil had made it a point to say it was purchasing as much diesel as it could from Russia, referring to the Kremlin as a strategic partner, and a “very reliable supplier.” 

The alliance between the two nations could lead to significant partnerships in the energy sector, from extraction and processing of oil and natural gas to the development of peaceful nuclear energy technologies.

And the ties extend beyond the energy sector. During a telephone call last year between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, the Russian president promised a steady supply of fertilizers to the South American nation, which relies heavily on its vast agribusiness sector.