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The Russian ambassador to Uganda, Semivolos, emphasizes that the upcoming summit between Russia and Uganda, scheduled to take place in St. Petersburg aims to strengthen bilateral trade and economic cooperation, as well as develop a broader range of complex bilateral relations. The summit will also include private meetings between Presidents Putin and Museveni to discuss pressing issues and potential areas of cooperation.

Semivolos says that the summit, which is slated to take place in St. Petersburg, the second-largest city in Russia, on July 27–28, 2023, will strengthen bilateral trade and economic cooperation while also developing a wider range of complex bilateral relations between Russia and Uganda.

“The conversations will provide Russia and Uganda more chances to take advantage of the possibilities for deeper cooperation. According to me, it should involve bilateral trade, energy cooperation, and promotion of Ugandan export goods into the Russian market, particularly coffee, tea, and tropical fruits, among others, “he stated.

In an interview on Thursday 13^th July 2023 at the Russian Embassy in Kololo, Kampala, he said: “We have already built significant economic ties between our two nations with regard to coffee and are already importing coffee in large amounts. We are looking forward to expanding this co-operation, which should include other commodities coming from Uganda such as tea and tropical fruits.”

He claimed that several Ugandan businesses are currently opening coffee shops in St. Petersburg and Moscow.

According to Semivolos, Uganda conducted the Uganda Expo in Moscow in May of this year, which featured more than 60 prominent business people from that country.

“We are aware of a number of trade agreements reached by local business people. We will do everything in our power on our end to ensure the growth of trade between our two nations in a variety of sectors. We ask our Ugandan partners to give us advice on any other export opportunities, Semivolos said.

 Museveni, Putin meeting

President Vladimir Putin and his Ugandan counterpart, Yoweri Museveni, will meet privately on the sidelines of the summit, the envoy said.

“President Putin and President Museveni will meet separately to discuss their respective perspectives on the most pressing problems and potential areas of cooperation. The conversations would center on how to speed up communication and open new possibilities for our relationship. The summit of our state leaders will be a critical turning point and provide a powerful incentive for further strengthening bilateral cooperation at all levels. We know it for sure,” he stated.

More than 100 Ugandans, including cabinet ministers, lawmakers, government technocrats, successful entrepreneurs, journalists, academics, and other well-known figures, are anticipated to accompany Museveni on the trip on the summit.

“We sent out invites to a lot of officials, and we got a lot of confirmations”.

Semivolos stated, “I will personally be there to welcome the President and his delegation and to accompany the President during the meeting.”

He also mentioned that other corporate executives from Uganda would travel separately to attend the meeting. Meetings with corporate leaders from the two nations are being set up, according to Semivolos. “We are issuing visas to Ugandan representatives every single day,” he declared.

“High-ranking representatives from the ministries of Russia and Uganda would also meet,” he continued, to explore specific areas of collaboration.

He stated that the economic and humanitarian forum, which will feature special panels on a variety of topics related to interactions between Russia and the African continent, will be the first event of the summit.

“There will be several panels on a variety of topics, including humanitarian challenges, SMEs, agribusiness, food security, logistics, science and technology, and collaboration in the energy sector. In addition, we’ll set up a media forum, a gathering of university rectors, and other round tables. We anticipate Ugandan participation at these activities to be on a high level,” the official stated.

To ensure the success of the summit and the bilateral meeting between President Vladimir Putin and President Museveni, the Russian Embassy in Kampala is collaborating closely with the foreign ministry and the Ugandan Embassy in Moscow, according to Semivolos.

During the summit, he added, several documents on the development of the relations between African states and Russia will be adopted.

Russia-Uganda inter-Parliamentary co-operation

The envoy says that Uganda has already actively participated in a few pre-summit events.

Uganda delivered one of the largest delegations to the international parliamentary conference “Russia-Africa” in March.

“Uganda’s participation in this event made a significant contribution to the growth of complex relations between Russia and the African nations based on the concepts of equality and mutually beneficial partnership,” the official added.

Anita Among, Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, will make her maiden trip to Russia this year, as the ambassador said, making it one of the important events on the Russia-Uganda calendar.

The main goals of the visit are to deepen cooperation between the delegations of the two parliaments at the parliamentary platforms, promote fruitful inter-Parliamentary dialogue, and advance mutual understanding and cooperation between our nations and peoples.

Bilateral ties expand.

The ambassador emphasized that Uganda is a significant and trustworthy partner for Russia, and that Russia places a high priority on friendly relations.

“We are optimistic that with our combined efforts, our bilateral cooperation will continue to grow in the realms of commerce, economics, energy, science and technology, humanitarian aid, and other areas. Unquestionably, this serves the fundamental interests of the people in our nations,” he remarked.

The dynamics of the two countries’ bilateral relations have, according to the ambassador, been excellent during the past few years.

Foreign Affairs Minister Jeje Odongo’s official visit to Moscow in May of last year made a significant contribution to the growth of the two countries’ bilateral political dialogue and the promotion of their cooperation in international fora.

Along with other crucial areas, advancements have been made in the economy, trade, health, and education. However, there is undoubtedly tremendous promise in other areas that we have yet to realize, such as transportation, infrastructure, agriculture, communications, and tourism.

According to Semivolos, Russia is aggressively enticing the Russian business community to look for partners in Uganda with an emphasis on fostering win-win initiatives in the fields of shared interest. We firmly believe that there is room for the relationship between Russia and Uganda to grow, he said.

“The National Resistance Movement (NRM) and United Russia Party, which is led by former Russian president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, initiated cooperation between their two countries last year,” the envoy added.

“The two nations prioritize their cooperation in the field of education,” he said.

Russia has given 218 fully funded scholarships to Ugandans for vocational study in Russia this year alone, as well as 50 scholarships for higher education.

He stated that a Russian language center will open at Makerere University in August to further the cooperation and ensure that students looking to study in Russia have access to the Russian language.