The key facts
- Russia and Libya intend to speed up the resumption of the intergovernmental commission's work and expand cooperation in energy.
- The meeting took place ahead of the eighth summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, which will be held on October 27 in Moscow.
- Tsivilev also held talks with delegations from Senegal and Malaysia.
Tsivilev's talks with the Libyan side
Russia and Libya intend to speed up the resumption of the joint intergovernmental commission's work and expand cooperation in energy. These issues were discussed by Russian Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev and Libya's acting Minister of Oil and Gas Khalifa Rajab Abdelsadek, Russia's Ministry of Energy reports. During the talks, the sides considered promising energy projects and agreed to make every effort to restore the commission's activities, of which Tsivilev is co-chair on the Russian side.
Context of the meeting and other talks
The meeting took place ahead of the eighth summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, which will be held on October 27 in Moscow. In addition to the Libyan representative, the Russian minister held talks with delegations from Senegal and Malaysia, discussing the development of cooperation in the fuel and energy sector.
Previous contacts and the Slovak agenda
The question of resuming the work of the Russian-Libyan commission had been raised before: in April, Tsivilev discussed it with Libya's Minister of Transport Mohammed al-Shahubi, when the sides confirmed their interest in joint energy projects and in developing trade and investment cooperation. Earlier, a Slovak delegation led by Minister of Foreign and European Affairs Juraj Blanar arrived in Moscow: on Monday, the 22nd meeting of the intergovernmental commission will take place; the Russian side will be headed by Minister of Science and Higher Education Valery Falkov, and the agenda includes energy, agriculture, environmental protection and culture.
Why this matters
Resuming the work of the intergovernmental commission — an institutional mechanism without which specific energy projects and trade agreements with Libya are hard to advance — means that speeding up this process directly affects the prospects for cooperation between the two countries. For participants in the energy market, the practical reference point is the Gas Exporting Countries Forum summit on October 27 in Moscow, around which the current series of bilateral meetings has been built. Details of the projects and the timeline for restoring the commission's work have not yet been disclosed.
