L. Fituni, I. Abramova Resource Potential of Africa and Russia's ...

exploitation of projects. Soviet exports of equipment and materials
for the construction of complete enterprises amounted to 339 million
rubles in 1961–1965; 444 million rubles in 1966–1970; 553 million
rubles in 1971–1975; 894 million rubles in 1976–1980 and to 2,2
billion rubles in 1989. 6
Moscow prided itself for having undermined the monopoly of
industrial capitalist countries on the sales of machines and equipment,
transfer of technical knowledge and granting of credits to developing
countries of Africa. And indeed, maneuvering between the
West and the East African countries were able to negotiate better
terms or relations with the developed world. Under the conditions of
global ideological competitions between communist and capitalism,
and due to the impact of the economic cooperation between the
USSR and other socialist states and the developing countries, western
powers had, in some instances, to agree to lower interest on
credits granted to the developing countries.
Though Soviet companies often were losing on overall investment
competition and scale of purchases of African goods (especially
those, which usually were not considered to be of higher order
of necessity for the Soviet consumers – exotic fruit, expensive types
of timber etc), Moscow could offer for Africans business benefits of
its own. One of them was long term nature and predictability of
terms and conditions of mutual cooperation. Another important aspect
of African countries ’ economic cooperation with the Soviet Union
was its stability. This was determined by the planned nature of
the Soviet national economy and by the fact that the agreements
signed by the USSR with African states were long-term ones. Stable
cooperation enabled African countries to envisage Soviet assistance
in building major projects in the key branches of their economies not
only in their current but also in their long-term national economic
development plans-A greater part of all the assistance rendered by
the USSR to African states went to the countries of socialist orientation.
They displayed initiative and readiness to develop multilateral
and ever deepening cooperation with the Soviet Union in all
branches of their economies and create the necessary requisites for
it. At the same time, cooperation successfully developed with a
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