Russian president talks gas in Algeria

Russia and Algeria are planning to join forces to promote their gas markets.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has met his counterpart Abdelaziz Bouteflika during a visit to Algeria.

The two countries are members of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, seen as the gas equivalent of OPEC oil organization, and are currently working together to set gas prices.

Apart from talking business and politics, Medvedev also laid a wreath at a monument for the heroes of Algeria's War of Independence and visited the Museum of Independence.

Dmitry Medvedev described his visit to Algeria as productive, and vowed to continue to develop cooperation between the two states.

“Our ties are developing at all levels, we exchange delegations… We have agreed to intensify cooperation in industrial ties and in a number of other spheres,” Medvedev said.

Medvedev pointed out that Russia and Algeria had agreed to strengthen ties on the resolution of the Middle East conflict and will continue their productive foreign policy cooperation. The Russian President also said he regretted not seeing the Sahara Desert.

According to Ruslan Aliyev, research fellow from Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technology, military co-operation has also always been high on the agenda in the countries’ relationship.

He said that during his last visit to Algeria four years ago, Vladimir Putin signed a number of important military contracts with Algeria.

“The contracts have the various types of weapons, including about 50 military jets and over 100 tanks,” Aliyev said. “We have signed contracts for modernization, the shipping of new submarines, helicopters, surface vessels, the operated armored vehicles. The S-300s which were recently in the spotlight as a super weapon that Iran nearly got its hands on were also on the list.”

”In other words the package of deals signed was very large, very diverse and very expensive,” he added. “As I see that, the fact that the president is paying a visit indicates the contracts are being fulfilled on schedule.”

It is Medvedev's first trip to the country, while his Algerian counterpart has visited Russia twice.