Organizational meeting of the Russian-Algerian Business Council

The organizational meeting of the Russian-Algerian Business Council was held in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation on December 10, 2007.

The agenda of the meeting included confirming Viktor Lorents, President-Chairman of the Board, Board Member of JSC Stroytransgaz, as the Chairman of the Russian part of the Russian-Algerian Business Council and presentations of the Russian companies – members of the Russian-Algerian Business Council.

The list of the participants included Evgeny Primalkov, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, Viktor Lorents, President-Chairman of the Board, Board Member of JSC Stroytransgaz, Tatiana Gvilava, Adviser to the President of CCI of the Russian Federation, Director of the Russian-Arab Business Council, Amar Abba, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic People’s Republic of Algeria in Moscow, Lotfi Sebuayi, Counsellor of Cultural and Economic Issues of the Embassy of the Democratic People’s Republic of Algeria in Moscow, Leonid Barkovsky, First Counsellor of the Department of Middle East and North Africa in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, heads of companies – members of the Russian-Algerian Business Council.

Opening the meeting, Mr. Primakov, the President of the Russian CCI, drew the participants’ attention to the fact that Russia and Algeria were tied with bonds of traditionally friendly relations and long-term cooperation in all spheres. “The key factor in developing the whole complex of the Russian-Algerian cooperation are the agreements reached during the official visit to Algeria of the Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2006”, said the President of the Russian CCI. Mr. Primakov reminded that the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation had rendered Algeria serious assistance in creating the industrial base of the country and developing such branches of economy as energetics, mining and metallurgy industry, engineering, water industry. “After a short period of stagnation the Algerian market is now witnessing a reactivation of investment and commercial activity of Russian businessmen”, pointed out Mr. Primakov. The sales turnover between Russia and Algeria amounted to 643,8 million USD and during the first eight months of the year 2007 this index equaled 692,1 million USD. It should be noted that 90% of the price of the imported Russian goods constitute machines and equipment. Speaking about the companies working in the Algerian market the President of the Russian CCI mentioned JSC Stroytransgaz, JSC Rosneft, JSC Zarubezhvodstroy, the state unitary enterprise Technopromexport, etc. He also remarked that since the establishment of the Russian-Algerian Business Council in March 2006, a lot of work had been done for setting up business relations and now it’s important to activate the cooperation with Algerian partners. Mr. Primakov also called for involving small and medium businesses and Russian regions in the activities of the Council.

Mr.Amar Abba, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic People’s Republic of Algeria in Moscow, thanked the management of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation for its efforts in the development of the bilateral cooperation and confirmed that certain success had been achieved in widening the cooperation between Algeria and Russia. He expressed hope that the activities of the Council would promote the further development of the trade and economic cooperation between the two states and wished the members of the Council to lead the bilateral relations to the brand new level successfully.

Viktor Lorents, President, Chairman of the Board, Member of the Board of JSC Stroytransgaz was nominated for the post of the Chairman of the Russian part of the Russian-Algerian Business Council. His candidature was approved by all those present unanimously.

In his speech Viktor Lorents thanked the members of the Russian part of the Russian-Algerian Business Council for their trust in him and assured that he would do his best to continue working actively in the Russian and Algerian markets and also in the markets of the other states. The President of JSC Stroytransgaz also stressed the importance of the coordination of the work with the Joint Russian-Algerian Intergovernmental Committee for the Trade, Economy, Science and Technology and the need to coordinate the efforts of the interested Russian businessmen. Besides, the Chairman of the Russian part of the Russian-Algerian Business Council spoke about the activities of Stroytransgaz, the company he leads, in Russia and abroad. He marked that the company had considerable competitive merits and kept stable positions among one hundred largest Russian companies. The leaders of the Russian gas and oil industry use the services of Stroytransgaz, the share of the foreign orders, which equaled 20% in 2006, is increasing. The company unites 29 construction-engineering companies and more than 25 thousand people. Mr.Lorents draw special attention to the activities of Stroytransgaz in Algeria, where the company had accumulated a wide experience, studied the Algerian legislation and fiscal documents. The Co-chairman of the Council marked the existence of good conditions for widening business contacts with the Algerian partners, suggested that the programme of the Council activities should be worked out and its objectives and tasks should be set.

Leonid Barkovsky, the First Adviser of the MENA Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, stressed the importance of the development of the Russian-Algerian trade and economic relations and increase of the trade turnover between the states. He informed the participants of the Meeting about the preparation of the intergovernmental agreements in the sphere of sea and air transportation, and agreements in the power industry, standartization and information. Mr.Barkovsky pointed out the need to diversify the bilateral contacts and to implement particular joint projects and expressed hope that the Council would be the locomotive of the Russian-Algerian cooperation.

According to the agenda, the participants of the Meeting approved the draft provisions on the Russian-Algerian Business Council and confirmed the list of the members of the Russian part of the Council. The participants of the Meeting expressed confidence that the work of the Russian-Algerian Business Council would promote the development of the trade, economic and investment cooperation and lead it to a new level, corresponding to the political dialogue between the countries.