Summary of Medvedev Visit

Summary of Medvedev visit

Approx $4 billion in deals

Nigeria

June 24

• Gazprom signs deal investing $2.5 billion in new joint venture NiGaz Emergy Company Limited, between Gazprom and NNPC.
• Allegedly plans to start first segment of Trans-Saharan Pipeline next year

Namibia

June 25

• OAO Gazprombank and Namcor signed agreement for the financing of an 800 Megawatt power station at Walvis Bay, estimated at $1.2 billion.
• “The Agreement on the Reciprocal Investment Promotion and Protection between Namibia and Russia”
• “Memorandum of Intention between the State Committee for Fisheries of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources of Namibia on Co-operation in the Field of Fisheries”

Angola

June 26

• Agreement signed under which Vnesheconombank, VTB Group and Roseximbank will lend approximately $300 million to Angola for satellite program, AngoSat. Agreement signed between Aristides Safeca, an Angolan deputy minister, and Vassili Ivanov, of Russian Rosoboronexport.

Articles:

Medvedev’s Dream of Africa

During Russian President Dimitry Medvedev’s trip to Nigeria, Russian gas giant Gazprom signed a USD 2.5 billion deal with the West Africa country’s Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to invest in a new joint venture. The new firm, to be called Nigaz, is set to build refineries, pipelines and gas power stations in Nigeria.
The Gazprom-NNPC agreement came during a four-day “African safari” by Medvedev to Egypt, Nigeria, Namibia and Angola - the longest tour around Africa taken by a Kremlin leader. As well as forming Nigaz, Russia is keen on transporting vast reserves in Nigeria to Europe via a Trans-Saharan pipeline. Gazprom plans to start construction from next year on the first 360-kilometre stretch of the 4,128-kilometre Trans Saharan gas pipeline from Nigeria to Europe, via Niger and Algeria. “The prospects are very good,” Medvedev said.
The move could further reinforce Gazprom’s influence over Europe’s energy supplies. “It is to show Brussels that if they really want to talk about gas from Nigeria, it will also be with Gazprom,” Konstantin Simonov, the general director of the Russian National Energy Security Fund, told New Europe telephonically from Moscow on June 25.
But a long pipeline stretching across unstable territories may be doomed to failure. “It is very difficult to build a pipeline from Nigeria to North Africa,” Simonov said. “The political risks are very high because you know the situation in Nigeria. For terrorists it’s a lot easier to attack pipes than wells.”
And to make sure Medvedev got the message, Nigeria’s main militant group, Movement for the Emancipation of the Nigerian Delta (MEND), attacked Shell‘s Bille-Krakama pipeline in Rivers State late on June 24. “This is the fate that awaits the gas pipelines you plan to invest in Nigeria if justice is not factored in the whole process,” the militant group said in an emailed statement aimed at Medvedev. “Mr President, the agreements that you have signed in Abuja are worthless.”
But Medvedev could have already achieved his political goals. “This visit has two main aims. Firstly, to show to Europe that if Europe wants to avoid Russia it would be difficult because Russia would also be near Africa. Secondly, to show to African countries that Russia is trying to return to Africa,” Simonov said. The then Soviet Union was active in Africa especially in giving impetus to the anti-colonial struggle. “Now we want to return to Africa, but we have no strategy. That is why I don’t think we will be successful during next several years,” Simonov said.
However, Medvedev showed Europe it is very difficult to avoid Russia because the Kremlin will also be very active in Africa.
Russian policy is very simple. Russia wants to take part in all projects that are an alternative to Russia. The aim of the European Commission is to diversify the 27-country bloc away from its present dependence on energy supplies from Russia. That is why Russia also wants to take part in all possible projects which can be an alternative to Russian gas supply, including Central Asia, North and West Africa. “Nigeria is speaking about the possibility to export gas from Nigeria to Europe. And that is why Gazprom is officially interested in taking part in Trans-Saharan pipeline. But I don’t believe in gas from Nigeria in this pipeline,” Simonov said.
He said Gazprom would be better served by developing projects on Russia’s own territory, including a new pipeline from Sakhalin to Vladivostok and developing the massive Bovanenkovo and Shtokman fields. “We have a huge amount of projects on the territory of the Russian Federation,” Simonov said. “I don’t think it is a good idea to invest money in Nigeria.”

Nigeria, Russia Sign Six Bilateral Agreements

From Juliana Taiwo in Abuja, 06.25.2009

The Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Russian Federation yesterday signed six agreements bothering on nuclear energy, transfer of prisoners, investment promotion, cooperation on legal matters, Memora-ndum of Understanding in the field of exploration of outer space and Memorandum and Articles of Association and the signing of MOU on joint venture between Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Gazprom.
Addressing a joint press briefing yesterday with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, who is on a one-day state visit to Nigeria, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua said Nigeria has about 183 trillion cubic metres of gas resources that could still be exploited and developed, and pointed out the one of the agreements signed between the NNPC and Russia’s Gazprom, is geared towards utilising the resources.
In a communiqué issued after the briefing, the two leaders said the bilateral talks covered a wide range of issues, including pressing global problems and the situation on the African continent.
The Presidents agreed to expand cooperation between Nigeria and Russia on the international issues, as well as to strengthen Nigerian-Russian ties, in the spirit of the Declaration on the Principles of Friendly Relations and Partnership between the Russian Federation, signed on March 6, 2001, in Moscow.
Expressing the need for developing legal framework for Nigerian-Russian cooperation, the Presidents urged that work be completed on all outstanding bilateral agreements as soon as possible.
The two leaders expressed satisfaction over the progressive growth of bilateral trade. At the same time they underlined the necessity for further increase of the turnover of goods between the two countries, as well as the need for promotion of direct contacts between Nigerian and Russian institutions, agencies and companies.
Having reviewed the level of economic cooperation between their countries, they underlined their firm intention to broaden economic ties, in particular cooperation in the spheres of energy, metallurgy, oil and gas production.
They noted the signing of an MoU between NNPC and JSC Gazprom on the establishment of a joint venture.
The two leaders also pointed out the importance of developing bilateral cooperation in the humanitarian and cultural spheres.
During their talks the two Presidents reviewed key regional and global issues. They noted that Nigeria and Russia share similar views and approaches on the issues of international peace and security, as well as sustainable development.
President Medvedev paid tribute to Nigeria’s role in international affairs, especially in Africa, where the country has made great contribution in promoting stability and security on the continent. He reiterated Russia’s policy in Africa’s which is based on support for the development and progress of the continent.
President Yar’Adua praised Russia’s role in the promotion of sustainable social and economic development of African countries, especially in the prevention and resolution of crisis situations on the continent. He called for further Russian assistance in dealing with the challenges confronting Africa.
The two Presidents expressed deep satisfaction with the results of the bilateral talks and affirmed their determination to continue with regular political consultations and dialogue as important means of promoting Nigerian-Russian Strategic partnership and cooperation.
Medvedev extended an invitation to President Yar’Adua to visit Russia, which the Nigerian leader accepted.

Medvedev closes Africa tour with oil co-operation pledge
June 28, 2009
By Maria Kolesnikova

 Russia regrets late relations with Africa

 President promises a more interactive policy
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev concluded a four-day, four-country African trip in Angola, a member of Opec, the organisation of petroleum exporting countries, where he held talks on closer co-ordination of oil policy.
Russian co-operation with the Opec was "particularly important in the current situation, when the oil market is going through serious changes", said Medvedev in Luanda, yesterday after talks with his Angolan counterpart Jose Eduardo dos Santos.
"We're not entirely satisfied with the state of the market," he said. "The oil market shouldn't be dependent on the situation in a single economy." Medvedev said Russia and Opec should co-ordinate more closely their policies on oil, including pricing.
Medvedev's visit to Angola, the first to the southern African country by a Russian head of state, comes after stops in Egypt, Nigeria and Namibia. Medvedev said in Namibia that Russia was "almost late" in returning to Africa.
"We should have started working with our African partners a long time ago."
In Cairo, Medvedev said he had secured the support of Israel and all other involved parties for Middle East peace talks in Moscow by the end of the year.
In Abuja, OAO Gazprom, Russia's gas export monopoly, agreed to create a joint venture with state-run Nigerian National Petroleum valued at $2.5 billion (R20.1bn). The venture will bid in a tender to develop two gas fields with combined reserves of 2.3 trillion cubic metres, according to Boris Ivanov, the head of Gazprom International.

The highlight of his visit to Namibia was an agreement between Namibia's state-owned oil company, Namcor, and OAO Gazprombank, the lending arm of Russia's natural-gas exporter, on financing for construction of an 800 megawatt power station in Namibia valued at as much as $1.2bn, according to Ivanov.
In Luanda, Russia and Angola signed an agreement under which Vnesheconombank, VTB Group and Roseximbank will lend as much as $300 million to Angola for its satellite programme.
They also discussed means to boost trade between the two countries, which stood at $76.3m last year.
Executives from Russian companies, including diamond monopoly ZAO Alrosa, accompanied Medvedev on the trip to Angola.
Alrosa, which has operated in Angola since 1990, has stakes in two joint mining ventures, Catoca and LUO-Camatchia-Camagico, and has said it will explore for diamonds, oil and gas as well as build hydropower plants.
Given the global crisis, "the company plans to focus on existing projects, such as Catoca", said its spokesman, Andrei Polyakov. - Bloomberg

Angola, Russia sign USD 327 million satellite construction deal

Luanda - Angola and Russia on Friday here signed a contract for the building, launching and operation of the Angolan telecommunication satellite named AngoSat, following the visit of president of the Russian Federation, Dimitri Medvedev is paying to
Angola.

Worth USD 327.600 million and a production time estimated at 39 months, the contract foresees apart from supply of technical means, the training of Angolan cadres in space technology for satellite management.

AngoSat will have 15 years of life and will serve to support national infrastructures of telecommunications and terrestrial digital television all over the country.

It will enable the coverage in Africa, Europe, in C band, and the Southern Africa, in particular, in Ku band.

The document was signed by the deputy minister of Telecommunications and Information Technology, Aristides Safeca, and by the acting chairperson of the Russian firm Rosoboronexport, Vassili Ivanov.

Namibia: Russia Joins Oil Hunt

Christof Maletsky and Jo-Maré Duddy

26 June 2009

GAZPROM, the Russian heavyweight in gas and oil exploration, plans to scrutinise all available hydrocarbon data on Namibia to decide where they are going to kick off their search for black gold here.

"Get used to seeing our faces much more often in Windhoek," Gazprom International Chief Boris Ivanov said at a business lunch yesterday, announcing that the company will open a local office by year-end.

Ivanov said Namibia has "great potential hydrocarbon resources" and that the country holds "strategic interest" for Russia.

He was part of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's business delegation visiting Namibia until this morning. Medvedev was the chairman of the board of Gazprom before he became president.

When The Namibian spoke to Mines and Energy Minister Erkki Nghimtina last night, the Minister could barely contain his excitement.

"I'm very confident. These guys are the experts," he said.

According to Nghimtina, it is only a question of giving all the exploration data available to Gazprom so that they can prioritise. So that they can determine that we start with this one," he said.

Nghimtina said the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed yesterday between Gazprombank, owned by Gazprom, and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor), "has opened the way to go into business".

Ivanov told the lunch meeting that Gazprom, through Gazprombank, is also very keen to get involved in the construction of an 800MW gas turbine power plant at Walvis Bay, part of the gas-to-power Kudu Gas project.

"It is quite a nice, sexy little project," Ivanov said, adding that Gazprom would like to get involved as soon as possible.

Namcor Managing Director Sam Beukes was cautiously optimistic about this development.

Gazprom's involvement must still be negotiated, he told The Namibian.

Minister Nghimtina, however, welcomed Gazprom's enthusiasm. The successful completion of Kudu will boost Namibia's power supply tremendously, he said.

Beukes also indicated that Gazprom might partner up with Namcor in some of their gas and oil exploration blocks.

He also said the Gazprombank deal could pave the way for Namcor to lay its hands on US$20 million to fight off their financial problems.

Three months ago Namcor said it needed a N$200 million injection after the company had incurred significant losses last year.

Beukes said the agreement will help Namcor access US$20 million and the Russian energy company will also assist them technically for oil and gas exploration.

"This is the beginning of setting Namcor up to strengthen its balance sheet. For now it is a MoU to explore opportunities and substantive agreements will come with time, but Gazprom wants to play a bigger role in Kudu gas field," Beukes said on the sidelines of the talks between Russia and Namibia.

Namcor has a 10 per cent share in the Kudu licence alongside Tullow Oil (70 per cent) and Itochu Corporation (20 per cent).

The Kudu natural gas deposit, some 130 km off the southern coast of Namibia, is the country's only commercial hydrocarbon deposit to date.

The deposit has proven natural gas reserves of over 40 billion cubic metres.

"Kudu is our only tangible asset for now and the Russian delegation is willing to start help us access our resources," Beukes said.

The deal was signed a day after Gazprom sealed another one worth US$2,5 billion with Nigeria's state-operated NNPC to further strengthen Russia's role in supplying natural gas to Europe.

More deals

Two other agreements - one to promote reciprocal investment protection and another to co-operate in the field of fisheries - were signed yesterday.

During yesterday's official talks Medvedev called for more trade between his country and Namibia, adding that they want to intensify their partnership with Africa.

"We should promote activisation of trade and economic ties. The first visit of the Russian president should open a qualitatively new stage in our relations," he said.

President Hifikepunye Pohamba agreed.

He said that Namibia is also keen to strengthen its co-operation with Russia and build what he termed a "durable economic partnership".

Pohamba said Namibia wants secure access for the country's products to Russia and urged Russia to lower tariffs on metal and farm goods.

Meanwhile, the Russian news agency Itar-Tass has quoted Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko as saying the Russian business community has been displaying growing interest of late in entering the promising market of Namibia.

"In this connection during the visit the sides will discuss possibilities for the expansion of Russian investment participation in major projects of the Namibian economy, in particular, in the sphere of the prospecting and development of mineral deposits, hydrocarbons, electric power industry, transport and tourism," Prikhodko said.

According to him, one of the promising co-operation spheres is the energy industry, from hydropower to atomic power.

"We are ready and are even offering at the expert level co-operation programmes, so we will speak about this," the presidential aide said.

Medvedev will end his four-nation visit to Africa with a final stop in Angola today.