Putin in Libya

Monday, April 21

Russian President Vladimir Putin paid a brief visit to Libya on April 16-17.

It was the first visit by a Russian president to Libya, which only emerged from isolation after eleven years of UN sanctions in 2003. It was part of a regional trip including a stay at Italian Prime Minister-elect Silvio Berlusconi's villa in Sardinia, with Russia's economic interests -- an important part of Moscow's diplomacy -- at its centre.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's mid-April visit to Libya had three primary goals:

• The first was to demonstrate that Russia was again a major player in Middle Eastern affairs, as the Soviet Union had been before it collapsed in 1991.
• The second was to obtain joint ventures for Russian oil and natural gas companies, at a time when Russia itself is having increasing trouble meeting both its domestic needs and export commitments.
• The last was to negotiate contracts for Russian high-tech companies and seize the opportunity to rebuild Libya's sanctions-damaged infrastructure.

The immediate results were few. The Russian side appears to have persuaded Libya to accept its figure for the debt owed for Soviet-era arms supplies -- 4.5 billion dollars (Libya had put it at 1.6 billion). The debt, which might otherwise have to be written off, may now provide work for Russian companies, on the lines of the agreement with Algeria. However, Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin, who was among the team accompanying Putin, said the arrears would only fall as Libyan payments reached Russian bank accounts. The only firm commitment to emerge during the visit was a railway-building contract. Expectations before the trip of big arms deals have yet to be realised.