Ethiopia Russia Relations

The revitalization of Russian-Ethiopian political dialogue began in the mid-1990s. During a visit to Moscow in December 2001 by the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi, a Declaration on the Principles of Friendly Relations and Partnership was signed.

The dynamics of Russian-Ethiopian multifaceted contacts today is at a high level. Interested political dialogue is maintained between Russia and Ethiopia , and active interaction is being carried out within the UN and at other international venues.

The basis for such fruitful cooperation is the consonance of the fundamental approaches of Moscow and Addis Ababa to solving pressing problems of our time, the proximity of perception of the processes taking place in the world. The Foreign Ministry is collaborating on two fears.

On March 9, 2018, during a working visit to Ethiopia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalen, President Mulatu Tesome and Foreign Minister Vorkneh Gebeeyehu.

On September 9-11, 2019, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia Gedu Andargacheu paid a working visit to the Russian Federation. On September 10, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks with him. Ethiopian Minister of National Defense Lemma Megersa also attended. The parties discussed the whole range of issues of further progressive development of Russian-Ethiopian mutually beneficial cooperation.

Particular emphasis was placed on trade, economic and humanitarian fields, the promotion of joint projects in the energy sector, including nuclear, science and technology, and training. At the same time, the importance of effectively engaging the mechanism of the intergovernmental Russian-Ethiopian commission on economic, scientific and technical cooperation and trade was noted.

In 2017, the deepening of bilateral relations was facilitated by visits to Russia by the President of the Supreme Court of Ethiopia, the Chairman of the Council for Constitutional Investigations Dagne Melaku Mehari (February, St. Petersburg), the State Minister of Industry of Ethiopia Alemu Sime (July, Yekaterinburg, INNOPROM-2017), and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Vorkneh Gebeeyehu (June), Speaker of the Federation Council Aleu Abate (October, 137th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union), Minister of Youth and Sports Ristu Irdau (October, Moscow-Sochi, meeting of leaders responsible for youth litiku, XIX World Festival of Youth and Students).

In 2017-2018, representatives of the Ethiopian Federal Police Commission attended the International Meeting of High Representatives for Security.

Trade and economic relations are regulated by the intergovernmental agreement on economic and scientific-technical cooperation and the trade agreement, signed on November 26, 1999.

In 2018, the volume of Russian-Ethiopian trade amounted to $ 109.6 million (Russian exports - $ 85.6 million, imports - $ 24 million). In the first half of 2019, trade between the two countries amounted to $ 32.3 million (Russian exports - $ 21.6 million, imports - $ 10.7 million).

The structure of Russian exports to Ethiopia includes food products and agricultural raw materials, metals and products from them, chemical products, machinery, equipment and vehicles, wood and pulp and paper products. Import from Ethiopia is formed from agricultural products.

On October 1-3, 2019, the seventh meeting of the Russian-Ethiopian intergovernmental commission on economic, scientific and technical cooperation and trade was held in St. Petersburg. The main areas of cooperation between Russia and Ethiopia was named : energy, geology and subsoil use, science and higher education, agriculture, culture and tourism. In Ethiopia , Russian hydrocarbon exploration companies operate . The Ethiopian government is interested in the participation of Russian companies in the modernization of the state district power station, which was built by the Soviet Union.

The State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom and the Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Technology signed a memorandum of understanding in 2017 on cooperation in various fields of peaceful uses of atomic energy. In April 2019, at the Atomexpo Forum in Sochi, Russia and Ethiopia signed Russia and Ethiopia signed a three-year roadmap for cooperation in the nuclear field, including a possible nuclear power plant project.

In Ethiopia, over one hundred Russian specialists, mainly doctors, work under private contracts (the Addis Ababa Hospital has the Russian Red Cross).

Ethiopian citizens study at Russian universities in civilian specialties. Russia has repeatedly provided humanitarian assistance to Ethiopia.