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

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supplies only it is either a blatant lie or a mere ignorance. In reality,<br />

quite a number <strong>of</strong> large-scale development projects were realized<br />

here with the Soviet assistance in the fields <strong>of</strong> industry, education,<br />

agriculture (for instance, a well-known irrigation project in Gambella).<br />

Big industrial enterprises <strong>and</strong> generating capacities were constructed<br />

(for example, the largest at the time <strong>and</strong> still one <strong>of</strong> the most<br />

significant ones Ethiopian hydropower plant in Melka Wakena).<br />

Comprehensive geological surveys were conducted, various mineral<br />

deposits were discovered (many <strong>of</strong> them are currently being exploited<br />

or prepared for extraction).<br />

Nowadays such type <strong>of</strong> aid is usually described as “<strong>of</strong>ficial development<br />

assistance”. And it does not really matter that at that time<br />

Soviet assistance was to some extent conditioned by certain ideological<br />

or political considerations. Whatever the reasons were, one<br />

can safely say that in the 1970–1980s the USSR was the largest economic<br />

donor <strong>of</strong> Ethiopia contributing greatly to the development <strong>of</strong><br />

almost every sphere <strong>of</strong> the latter’s economy, as well as conducting a<br />

large-scale training <strong>of</strong> Ethiopian students (suffice it to say that over<br />

20 thous<strong>and</strong> Ethiopians studied in the USSR). 38<br />

With the end <strong>of</strong> the Cold War the basic principles <strong>and</strong> targets <strong>of</strong><br />

foreign policy in my country <strong>and</strong> in the whole world have considerably<br />

changed. Russia’s economic relations with Ethiopia are no<br />

longer based on political or ideological factors. Moreover, nowadays<br />

it is not public but private enterprises that are the leading economic<br />

operators in Russia. In their activities they are guided mainly by<br />

market rules <strong>and</strong> principles (pr<strong>of</strong>it generation, secure <strong>and</strong> rapid return<br />

<strong>of</strong> investments, etc.).<br />

This trend, inter alia, has had a positive effect on the relations<br />

between Russia <strong>and</strong> Ethiopia. Though 2009 was marked by the culmination<br />

<strong>of</strong> the global financial crisis, it proved to be the most economically<br />

successful in the Russian-Ethiopian relations since 1991.<br />

Thus, the overall bilateral trade totaled about $170 million, increasing<br />

1.6 times as compared with 2008 (Table 3.4.2). 39<br />

In 2009, for the first time in the post-Soviet period the Russian<br />

Federation took an active part in the regular Addis Ababa International<br />

Trade Fair. More than 20 Russian companies, organizations<br />

191

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