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Somalia eyes expanding cooperation with Russia in many areas — ambassador

According to Mikhail Golovanov, the Somali side is in favor of attracting Russian entrepreneurs to do business in the country and believes that the invested funds will pay off in the long term

NAIROBI, July 3. /TASS/. Somalia is showing interest in expanding multifaceted cooperation with Russia, Russian Ambassador to Djibouti and Somalia Mikhail Golovanov said in an interview with TASS.

"In the public information space, Somalis often make nostalgic reference to the period of intense cooperation between the USSR and Somalia, pointing to the high level of interaction in various fields after the country gained independence. In contacts with the embassy, Somali partners stress that they highly appreciate the role of our country on the international arena in maintaining global stability and its foreign policy, based on the principles of building respectful dialogue and non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, it was possible to identify Mogadishu’s serious interest in expanding multifaceted cooperation with Russia," the diplomat said.

According to him, the Somali side is in favor of attracting Russian entrepreneurs to do business in the country and believes that the invested funds will pay off in the long term.

"It would be useful to take into account in the future the significant potential of hydrocarbons (oil, gas - TASS) and rare earth deposits in the Federal Republic of Somalia. In this regard, Russian economic operators, as the military-political situation in Somalia stabilizes, should gradually take a closer look at its investment opportunities, taking into account the Federal Reserve's potential in energy, mineral development (deposits of iron, uranium-vanadium and titanium ores, bauxite, tin, zinc), fishing industry, and agriculture," Golovanov noted.

Last November, the Somali side received a shipment of 25,000 tons of grain from Russia, which will allow the government of the republic to cope with the consequences of the floods. This was reported by the Somali National News Agency.