Russia has expressed readiness for fresh partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) in the development of Nigeria’s multi-billion-dollar upstream, gas and power sectors, a high-ranking executive at NNPC has said, according to The Guardian Nigeria.
A statement by the corporation’s Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Mr. Samson Makoji, said this was made known by the Russian Federation Ambassador to Nigeria, Alexey Shebarshin, during a working visit to the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, on Friday.
Shebarshin, who stated that the visit was to consolidate on the gains made from the Russia-Africa Summit held in Sochi last year, added that the Russian Embassy in Nigeria was keen on enhancing and developing the bilateral co-operation between the two countries across the oil and gas value chain.
“We are particularly interested in participating in Nigeria’s power infrastructure projects. We would also keep close track of the ongoing negotiations between NNPC and Gazprom on the restoration of the bilateral cooperation which aims to revive and solidify the venture between our two companies for gas Infrastructure development in Nigeria,” Shebarshin said.
While highlighting the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the NNPC and Russian company Lukoil, which focused on refinery rehabilitation, the diplomat stressed that he was ready to provide any kind of assistance to move the project forward.
