Algeria Hopes To Enhance Partnership With Russia In Military, Energy Sectors - Lawmaker

ALGIERS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th July, 2020) Algeria expects that the upcoming visit of President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to Russia will contribute to stronger bilateral cooperation in military, energy and scientific fields, Abdelkader Abdullawi, the head of the Algerian parliament's foreign affairs committee, told Sputnik.

In May, Russian Ambassador to Algeria Igor Belyaev told Sputnik that Tebboune had received an invitation from Moscow to pay an official visit to Russia after the epidemiological situation in both countries returned to normal.

"We hope that [the visit] will contribute to closer cooperation in the military and energy sectors, especially after the new amendments to the law on hydrocarbon resources, as well as in scientific and other ones," Abdallawi said.

Algeria seeks to strengthen the partnership and reach a greater degree of mutual understanding with Russia on international issues, including the situation in Libya, Abdullawi added.

Algiers and Moscow are linked by "long-standing ties, especially after they reached the level of strategic partnership in 2001," Abdullawi said, noting that this cooperation "continues up to the present day."

"I believe that the president's visit to Russia will be successful in many ways," the committee's head added.

Algeria, along with Morocco and Egypt, is currently one of the three leading trading partners of Russia in Africa, with energy being one of the main areas of cooperation.

Russia's Rosneft and Gazprom Neft are implementing joint projects with Algeria's Sonatrach oil and gas company,

In April, Sonatrach also signed a memorandum of understanding with Russia's Zarubezhneft, which paved the way for talks on the exploration, development and production of hydrocarbons in Algeria.