The ambassador of Russia, Alexander Surikov, said yesterday in Maputo, that his country is open to an exchange with our country in order to stabilize fuel prices in the domestic market.

"Russia is open to work with Mozambique in this regard. We are open to projects in the fuel sector and others of mutual interest, he said during the CTA Conference.

The idea, according to the ambassador, is to allow Mozambique to import fuel directly from Russia, avoiding intermediaries, a prospect that is thought to reduce, at least by half, the costs of acquiring the product.

Alexander Surikov defended this position in a meeting he held with the Confederation of Business Associations of Mozambique (CTA), at a time when the conflict in Ukraine is making fuel imports more expensive.

"Today it is difficult to transport goods from Russian ports because our ships are deprived of calling at international ports and financial transactions in foreign exchange are stuck in the banks.

So with the CTA we talked about the mechanisms to create to use our own resources, including our own foreign exchange, to make our transactions possible," he said.

For his part, the economist and executive director of the CTA, Eduardo Sengo, said that direct imports from Russia are seen by businessmen operating in various sectors of the economy as a very wise measure in view of the sanctions imposed after the beginning of the war with Ukraine.

According to him, the understanding for a new era in the fuel import chapter reached between the parties, lacks, however, other procedures to make it viable.

Besides the position of the Government, which must give its opinion, analyzing the political aspects, pros and cons, it will be necessary for the Bank of Mozambique to approve the transactions with Russia in ruble currency. This is because the Bank of Mozambique depends on the reserves it has. If it has large reserves in ruble, this may facilitate the process," Sengo said.

He added that at this moment Russia will identify some exporters and suppliers to make this direct connection with some Mozambican companies.