Guyana explores deepening cooperation with Russia

Jun 11, 2018 News

Guyana has vowed to explore more avenues for cooperation with Russia in pursuit of common interest between the two countries.
President of Guyana, His Excellency David Granger and newly-accredited Russian Ambassador, Alexander Kurmaz shared the sentiments at a recent reception in commemoration of Russia Day 2018.

From left: Russian Ambassador to Guyana Alexander Kurmaz, President David Granger and Minister of State, Joseph Harmon.

According to President Granger, Guyana and Russia share common concerns regarding the threats of terrorism and other transnational crimes, noting that the common abhorrence of the negative effects of these threats forms a basis for continued cooperation within the global multilateral system.
The President stated that both countries have enjoyed cordial relations and collaborated in the fields of culture, education, economics, security and science.
“Guyana iterates its appreciation for Russian support for debt relief and disaster relief. We are pleased with the recent conclusion of a Treaty to guide our basic relations and with the signature of agreements relating to visa waivers…The Patrice Lumumba University was established in the era of de-colonisation and numerous Guyanese have enjoyed scholarships there and, later, at the People’s Friendship University of Russia,” he said.
Guyana and Russia have enjoyed formal and informal relations for over 50 years. Russia-owned Rusal, the second largest aluminium producer in the world, has bauxite mining operations in Aroaima and further up the Berbice River.
However, U.S. sanctions at the start of April against Oleg Deripaska, the main principal of EN Group which owns Rusal, threatened to derail the company’s operations. Deripaska is accused of being involved in a host of alleged Russian government predations, including Ukraine and Syria, as well as crimes against business rivals.
Ambassador Kurmaz said that like Guyana, Russia too is home to different ethnicities and cultures and said that they too work towards a motto of ‘One People, One Nation, One Destiny’.
“We are working very hard with the members of the Guyanese Government in order to establish a durable agenda for boosting the inter-ministerial and inter-governmental context to come back, first of all, to the practice of regular visits between the two countries,” he said.
Russia Day is the national holiday of the Russian Federation. It is celebrated annually and commemorates the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) on June 12, 1990.