Russian President Vladimir Putin will receive in the Kremlin his Algerian counterpart Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who is in Russia on a state visit.
Yuri Ushakov, an advisor to the Russian leader, has reported earlier that full format negotiations in narrow and extended formats will take place, and the presidents will make statements at the end. At the talks, in particular, they will consider in detail the development of strategic Russian-Algerian cooperation in various fields and current topics on the international agenda, including the situation in the Middle East and North Africa. In general, according to Ushakov, the positions of the countries "either coincide or are very, very similar" on most international problems. He noted that the talks will address the general outline of relations between Russia and Africa taking into account the summit to be held at the end of July and "various aspects of the Ukrainian crisis."
It is also planned to sign joint documents. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin noted Wednesday at a meeting with Tebboune that a declaration on the countries' deepened strategic partnership will be signed. According to the prime minister, this document "will mark the transition of Russian-Algerian interaction to a new qualitative level." Mishustin stressed that the governments of Russia and Algeria will ensure coordinated work on the implementation of agreements to be reached at the highest level.
According to diplomatic protocol, state status is the highest of foreign visits and is rarely used. Usually such visits imply that in addition to business negotiations there are several additional protocol events and meetings.
Tebboune arrived in Moscow on June 13. In addition to Mishustin, he held talks with Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko and Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, took part in the Russian-Algerian business forum.
On Friday, Tebboune's program will continue in St. Petersburg, where he will participate in the plenary session of the SPIEF together with Putin and deliver a report.
Russia ready to step up ties
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, responding to a TASS question, said that Russia very highly values the visit of the Algerian leader. The diplomat drew attention to the prospects for the development of cooperation at the level of business communities and companies, as well as the prospects for technical cooperation.
Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Maxim Reshetnikov reminded that Algeria uses trade preferences of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU). According to the minister, Russia is interested in a free trade agreement with Algeria and is ready to facilitate this, including through consultations in the EEU. Among the possible areas of cooperation Reshetnikov listed industry, energy, banking, geology and mineral resources, transport and logistics.
In November 2022, the Algerian authorities submitted a formal application to join the BRICS group. Chairman of "Delovaya Rossiya" ("Business Russia") Alexey Repik stressed that the business community of the Russian Federation supports such a decision. In his opinion, it is necessary to take measures to expand cooperation between entrepreneurs of the two countries, in particular, it would be possible to extend visa-free regime for business representatives and expand opportunities for such trips. Repik also believes that the countries should pay more attention to innovative projects, and Russian technology can help increase the competitiveness of Algerian products in world markets.
Algeria's expectations
The president of Algeria said during his visit that his country is looking forward to developing relations with Russia in all areas. He drew attention to the history of relations between the states, which "cannot change even if the situation in the world changes". According to Tebboune, in the current political conditions there is still mutual understanding between the countries.
The Algerian leader sees prospects for cooperation in agriculture, industry, tourism, science and culture.
Minister of Energy and Mining of Algeria Mohamed Arkab earlier called on Russian companies to increase investment in the country. He also noted that the republic is interested in strengthening and developing relations with Russia to find new opportunities in exploration, energy production and other areas.
In turn, Minister of Knowledge Economy, Start-ups and Micro-enterprises of Algeria Yacine El Mahdi Oualid particularly emphasized the opportunities for increasing ties in the field of digital economy. According to him, technology companies can open "subsidiaries" in Algeria and provide information support in the IT sphere.
Russian-Algerian relations
Algeria is one of Russia's top three trading partners in Africa, ranking third after Egypt and Morocco. In 2022, trade turnover amounted to $1.7 billion, and in January - March 2023 increased by 73.7%. In 2022, the volume of mutual trade in agricultural products and food doubled, exceeding $700 million. The countries are also developing ties in the energy sector.
Another important area of cooperation is pharmaceuticals. Algeria received 1 million doses of the Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine, export of antitumor drugs was established and insulin is produced in Algeria with the participation of the Russian side.
Russia traditionally pays special attention to humanitarian ties and assists in training qualified personnel for Algeria. During the years of cooperation about 19 thousand Algerian specialists in various fields were trained and about 1.5 thousand Algerian citizens study in Russian universities.
The countries work successfully in multilateral formats and organizations, including in the UN in view of Algeria's election as a non-permanent member of the Security Council for 2024-2025. There is productive joint work within the framework of OPEC+ and the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.
GSV "Russia - Islamic world"
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Based on materials from TASS