Russia eyes gas, grain hub in Bahrain; Manama welcomes talks

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
12 Feb 2023 17:32
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Russia's Ambassador to Bahrain says Moscow and Bahrain's aspirations on economic relations are not there yet but are on the way.

A 3D-printed natural gas pipeline is placed in front of displayed Russian flag in this illustration taken February 8, 2022 (Reuters)

Russia and Bahrain are considering bolstering economic ties by establishing a grain and gas hub in the Gulf state, in addition to a Russian vaccine manufactring plant.

Russian Ambassador to Manama Alexey Skosyrev told Sputnik on Sunday that agencies involved in the matter in both countries will "continue to study proposals for the implementation of a number of major flagship projects. These include the project of a grain hub, a gas hub and a plant for the production of Russian vaccines."

The Russian Ministry of Industry has already discussed creating a grain hub in Bahrain a few years back, however the proposal was never executed.

Bilateral ties unaffected by western anti-Russia campaign

Skosyrev told the Russian agency that the relations between the two countries were not affected by the western campaign targeting Moscow following the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

"We appreciate the measured, balanced position of Manama to the crisis in Ukraine, we express our gratitude to the Bahraini leadership for its readiness to assist the political and diplomatic process in case such a need arises, we warmly support the call of the authorities of the kingdom not to allow the media to be used to escalate the situation and promote hatred," he told the news site.

"If we speak about the infamous cancel culture against everything Russian, which was done in the West, then there are no conditions and prerequisites for this. On the contrary, interest in our culture and communication with Russians is steadily growing. For example, we constantly receive requests for studies in Russia, learning the Russian language, planned cultural events of various kinds," he added.

Western sanctions on Russia and the Covid pandemic slowed down the development of relations between the countries, the Ambassador noted, however stressing that "they can only somewhat slow down the process of strengthening our ties, not reverse it," adding that Moscow welcomes Manama's interest in joining the SCO and taking part in BRICS projects.

The Russian official also revealed to Sputnik that Moscow and Manama are in discussions to hold a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the King of Bahrain Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.

"The possibility of holding a summit meeting is being considered, but agreements on its modalities — time and place — have not been reached yet," Skosyrev noted.

On the relations between the countries, Skosyrev stressed that confidential dialogue is maintained on "a wide range of issues, including a number of general principles of the world order, our views are close or coincide. For us, as we have repeatedly stressed at all levels, Bahrain is an important partner in the Arab-Muslim world; special attention is also paid to interaction with Russia in Manama."

Economic and financial integration are of top priority

As for the economic ties, the Russian envoy stressed that their current status are far from the state's "aspirations".

"As for the economic component of our relations, their potential in this area is far from being fully realized, and trade indicators do not yet correspond to our aspirations. However, this does not mean that interest in mutually beneficial cooperation has waned. We intend to make every effort to achieve a significant increase in trade. To this end, together with our Bahraini partners, we are working on further improving the legal framework of Russian-Bahraini relations and expanding the network of contacts between business representatives, preparing the appropriate logistics and financial infrastructure," he said.

Moreover, the two countries are discussing increasing financial integration of both economies, including the corresponding relations of the banking sectors, he said, adding that this project is all discussed with all Gulf states as well.

"This issue is being discussed not only with the Bahraini partners, but in general with all the Gulf States, whose financial systems a high degree of mutual integration. Undoubtedly, the establishment of long-term cooperation between the financial structures of Russia and Bahrain will have a positive impact on trade and economic relations with Manama and will contribute to the growth of mutual trade. We are talking about a set of areas that need to be developed: this is the establishment of corresponding relations between the banks of our states, and ensuring the functioning of MIR cards in the kingdom, and the use of national currencies in trade. We expect that we will soon reach concrete results," Skosyrev told Sputnik.

Russia challenges western hegemony, deepens ties with countries of interest

It's noteworthy that Russia has been actively working on developing strategic economic relations with countries it considers as "friendly" following the West's attempts to isolate Moscow and slash the nation's income.

Last October, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Fatih Donmez stated that Turkey and Russia have come to an agreement over creating a gas hub that will link the two through Europe, and Ankara has already started on its part of the work.

Read: Putin, Erdogan discuss grain corridor, gas hub, & Ukraine peace talks

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow could redirect gas transit from the Nord Stream pipelines, damaged by an explosion classified by Russia as an act of terrorism, to Turkey. Unprecedented damage was dealt to three out of four Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea.

The pipeline of the hub starts on the Russian coast, runs over 930 km through the Black Sea, and comes ashore in the Thrace region of Turkey.

It directly connects the largest gas reserves in Russia to the Turkish gas transportation network, providing reliable energy to Turkey, and South and Southeast Europe.

On Moscow's relations with Iran, Russia's Ambassador to Tehran Alexei Dedov said earlier this month that trade relations between Russia and Iran have reached a record high of $4.6 billion in 2022, a stark increase of 15% compared to the year prior.

The Russian diplomat added that prospects for further growth are likewise anticipated for the year 2023.

Moreover, on January 16, reports revealed that Russia and Iran are discussing the possibility of the two parties expanding their cooperation to include the cryptocurrency sector as Moscow and Tehran mull developing a joint gold-backed stablecoin.