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| Volume XV, Fall 2008, Number 3 |
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EXCERPT
The Russian-Libyan Rapprochement: What Has Moscow Gained?
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| Mark N. Katz |
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Dr. Katz is a professor of government and politics at George Mason University.
In mid-April 2008, outgoing President Vladimir Putin went to Libya. He was the highest-level Russian official ever to visit this petroleum-rich North African country. A number of agreements were reached then, including a resolution to Libya’s Soviet-era debt to Moscow, a contract for Russian Railroads to build a railway line between two Libyan cities (Sirte and Benghazi), and a memorandum of cooperation between Gazprom and the Libyan National Oil Company. There were also reports that major Russian arms sales to Libya may be forthcoming. In addition, Gazprom appears set to become heavily involved in Libyan gas exports to Europe through a swap of some Gazprom assets in Russia in exchange for some of the assets in Libya of ENI, Italy’s multinational oil and gas company. In July 2008, Gazprom proposed that it buy all Libyan petroleum intended for export.
Gazprom’s growing Libyan presence has led some to fear that Moscow is attempting to dominate European gas imports not just from the east, but also from the south. This fear has only been furthered by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s enthusiasm for a “gas OPEC” and, despite his recent rapprochement with Washington, for Putin’s confrontational approach toward America and the West. Far from presaging a Russian-Libyan alliance, however, the April 2008 Putin visit to Libya may actually have been an attempt to play catch-up with the West (especially Europe), which had benefited from the end of Libya’s isolation following the lifting first of UN and later U.S. sanctions against it. Nor is it clear that Gazprom’s offer to buy all of Libya’s petroleum exports will be accepted. Finally, as some Russian analysts have noted, the benefits that Moscow receives from improved relations with Tripoli may turn out to be relatively limited
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