BY MBONO MDLULI
MBABANE – Russia is considering the possibility of helping in generating thermal power in Eswatini.
This was one of the discussions held by Prime Minister Russell Mmiso Dlamini over the past weekend when he met Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Kingdom of Eswatini, His Excellency Alexander V. Surikov.
The meeting took place at the Cabinet Offices in Hospital Hill, Mbabane. Apart from thermal power production, Russia also considers the possibility of coal mining in the country. Russia is said to have the right expertise when it comes to these two industries.
According to the Prime Minister’s Facebook page, what was also discussed was collaboration in ICT, in particular e-governance and space technology. Russia will also share success stories with Eswatini on how they manage State Owned Enterprises. Government will assemble a team to do a programme of action on these proposed areas of cooperation.
Lastly, Russia invited Eswatini to the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum taking place in June this year. Eswatini and the Russian Federation have enjoyed 25 years of diplomatic relations.
Russia has recently introduced a visa-free agreement for holders of Diplomatic and Service passports from the Kingdom. “We were happy to hear of proposals to have short-term visas for Emaswati students in Russia as well as Emaswati travelling to Russia for tourism and/or business purposes,” Dlamini said.
Last month, the Russian Ambassador met with Minister for Natural Resources and Energy Prince Lonkhokhela to discuss possibilities of opening a mine. Africa Gold Eswatini, a company from Russia, was once granted a prospecting license in October, 2021 to prospect Gold at Horo in Hhohho region. However, due to effects of Covid-19, the company could not proceed with the prospecting. Ambassador Surikov has indicated enormous interest of proceeding with the project. His said this when he met the Minister on February 7 this year.
