Russia will seek the correct execution of the grain deal in order to prevent a food crisis. The speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko stated this in Algeria, where she arrived on March 15 on an official visit. The African Republic, in turn, is ready to take part in the settlement of the crisis in Ukraine, which affects not only Europe, but also other regions, including Africa. In what areas the Russian Federation and Algeria plan to develop cooperation and how Moscow relates to the country’s entry into the BRICS – in the material of Izvestia.
Reliable partner
The countries of the Maghreb and the African continent as a whole continue to be a desirable partner for Russia on the world stage. Since the beginning of the year alone, our delegations have already visited about a dozen countries: in January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov went to South Africa, Angola, Eswatini and Eritrea, then to Mali, Mauritania and Sudan. At the end of February, Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev arrived in Algeria. This time, the republic received the speaker of the Federation Council, Valentina Matviyenko. The visit takes place from 15 to 17 March. The Algerian side presented souvenirs to the delegation of the Federation Council, and open events were held to the accompaniment of small orchestras.
All conversations lasted at least an hour, and the conversation with President Abdelmajid Tebbun dragged on for almost two. At the same time, guests from dank Moscow were also welcomed on the streets: local residents welcomed the representatives of the delegation in their homeland, being interested in their opinion on the international situation.
On March 16, after the solemn laying of flowers at the monument to the heroes of the Algerian War of Independence and viewing the photo exhibition dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Council of the Nation of the Republic, the politician held a number of bilateral meetings with African counterparts – Chairman of the Council of the Nation Salah Gujil and head of the National People’s Assembly Brahim Bougali.
The parties agreed to prepare an updated declaration on in-depth strategic partnership. Algeria, according to the speaker, is one of the leading trade and economic players for Russia in Africa. Although the total trade turnover in 2022 decreased due to the sanctions war, the parties plan to increase cooperation in energy, transport and agriculture, pharmaceuticals and education. Separately, the speaker of the Federation Council announced the readiness of the Russian Federation to support the republic’s intention to join the BRICS. In November 2022, Algeria applied to join this organization.
The countries also plan to coordinate their approaches to solving the world’s most pressing problems. Salah Gujil, in particular, expressed Algeria’s readiness to take part in the process of resolving the crisis in Ukraine, which affects not only Europe, but also other regions.
— Our positions are close on most issues of the international and regional agenda. Russia has always been and remains our reliable partner. Bilateral relations are in very good shape, he said.
In particular, Algeria is interested in the work of the grain deal, which this time the parties to the agreement managed to extend only for 60 days. The republic received more than 181 thousand tons of products after the conclusion of agreements last year in Istanbul between Moscow and Kiev through the mediation of the UN and Ankara.
By the way, Valentina Matvienko, already while talking with journalists, let go of a taunt against Western countries regarding the implementation of the deal.
- We made sure that the goals were spelled out alone, but everything was decided differently. And most of it went to EU countries,” she said.
At the same time, Russia intends to cooperate with the UN in order to change the situation: so that grain is transferred to poor countries in order to prevent a global food crisis. In addition, unhindered conditions should be created for the export of Russian products – this is spelled out in a separate memorandum between the Russian Federation and the UN, which represents the second part of the grain deal.
The central point of the program of the visit of the speaker of the upper house of parliament was a meeting with the President of the Republic, Abdelmajid Tebbun, with whom the Russian leader also had a telephone conversation earlier. Vladimir Putin conveyed a “quite substantive” message to his colleague with the Russian parliamentary delegation, inviting him to pay an official visit to the Russian Federation and participate in the second Russia-Africa summit, Valentina Matvienko said. The summit will take place on July 26-29 in St. Petersburg.
General interest
However, Russia is not the only country that is interested in strengthening relations with the African region. Literally a couple of days before the arrival of the delegation of the Federation Council in Algeria, they met the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Josep Borell. The main topic of his visit to the republic was the development of green energy and bilateral trade, part of which falls on the export of natural gas.
Against the backdrop of the European Union’s rejection of Russian energy resources, Brussels is actively looking for suppliers of oil and gas. According to Eurostat, in 2022, Europeans bought blue fuel in 27 countries and spent three times more on it than in 2021: €208 billion versus €62.5 billion. The United States became the largest seller of liquefied natural gas to Europe. Followed by Qatar, Angola and Egypt.
Algeria is in the top ten suppliers of blue fuel. At the same time, in 2021, the republic completely stopped pumping through the gas pipeline to Spain through Morocco due to political disagreements with Madrid over the status of Western Sahara.
- After the termination of the transit of Algerian gas through Morocco to the Pyrenees, Spain loses the status of an important importer. A promising transit country is Italy, where it is planned to transfer those volumes of gas that were previously supplied to Spain. The transformation of Italy into the main hub for Algerian gas in Europe is also being discussed,” Vsevolod Sviridov, an expert at the Center for African Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, told Izvestia.
At the same time, the construction of the Trans-Sahara gas pipeline, the restoration of which the authorities of Nigeria, Niger and Algeria are actively talking about, seems unlikely due to lack of investment, he said.
Valentina Matviyenko stressed during her working visit that Russian-Algerian relations are of great importance for the stability of the gas market. Moscow’s long-term interest may lie in supporting the development of the domestic gas market in Algeria, suggested Vsevolod Sviridov. Thus, the growth of gas processing and consumption within the country will have a positive impact on its economic development, financial stability, and will also limit the excess supply of gas in Europe, he said. According to the expert, Algeria is pursuing a balanced foreign policy and is not leaning in any direction.
- Of course, Algeria is one of the most friendly countries for Russia in Africa. On the one hand, he has officially declared a strategic partnership with the Russian Federation. It is one of three such countries in Africa, along with Egypt and South Africa. At the same time, Algeria is actively developing partnerships with the countries of the European Union. For example, the dialogue between Algeria and Italy is at a fairly high level. Despite the difficulties and issues of the colonial past, France remains an important trading partner of the republic,” the expert explained.
As for the energy issue, at a press conference Valentina Matviyenko touched upon the topic of sabotage against Nord Stream. The speaker of the Federation Council called the incident a terrorist attack that could not be organized at an “amateur level”. Therefore, the Russian side requires an international investigation that will be able to identify those involved.
