E. I. TERESHCHENKO, Candidate of MGIMO (U) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

Ghana Keywords:, Russia, trade and economic cooperation

Intensive development of trade and economic ties between the two countries began in the first years after Ghana gained independence in 1957. In accordance with the agreement on economic and technical cooperation (1960), with the assistance of the USSR, Ghana built: a reinforced concrete products plant in the capital of the country, Accra, and a vocational technical center in Tema, which trained personnel for mechanical engineering. On the basis of the Agreement on Cooperation in the peaceful Uses of atomic energy (1961), Ghana was assisted in the construction of an atomic research center and an isotope laboratory. In the 1970s, Soviet specialists carried out geological exploration to search for oil deposits in the Volta region. Bilateral trade developed on the basis of a corresponding long-term agreement (1976).

After the removal of the first President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, from power in 1966 as a result of a military coup, relations between Ghana and the USSR were curtailed in many areas. It was only in the late 1980s and 1990s that their gradual recovery began.

Currently, according to the Ghanaian Center for Attracting Investment, 12 commercial structures organized with Russian participation are registered in the country. These enterprises operate mainly in gold mining and trade.

The rapid growth of the Ghanaian economy in recent years creates favorable conditions for the development of Russian-Ghanaian trade and economic relations. As a result of lower government spending, tight monetary policy and attracting investment, GDP growth in 2011 reached its highest level in the country - 13.6% compared to 7.7% in the previous year1. According to IMF forecasts, Ghana's GDP in 2012 was expected to reach $37.4 billion, and its growth - 8-9%².

In addition to effective government measures and high prices for the main Ghanaian exports-gold and cocoa beans-revenues from oil sales ($444m3), commercial production of which began here at the end of 2010, made a significant contribution to the economy. The funds received from oil production, which is produced in the amount of 85 thousand barrels per day, allowed the government to invest significant amounts in infrastructure development, agricultural modernization, as well as to start paying off external and internal debts. GDP per capita grew from $1,300 to $1,500 in ²⁰¹⁰ - 20114. The inflation rate is decreasing (8.5-8.7% per year) ⁵.

Ghana's foreign trade turnover in 2011, according to the local Central Bank, was $26.2 billion. with a trade deficit of $2.6 billion ($2.4 billion in 2010). Exports reached $11.8 billion; imports reached $14.4 billion.⁶ Ghana imports oil and petroleum products, machinery and equipment, automobiles, food, medicine, and consumer goods. In turn, cocoa beans and semi-finished products from them, gold, wood, diamonds, fish, aluminum, manganese, bauxite are exported. Ghana's main foreign trade partners are the United States, Great Britain, China, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France, India, Nigeria, and Togo. The US and EU account for more than half of export-import operations.

According to Rosstat, the volume of Russian-Ghanaian trade turnover in 2011 amounted to almost $180 million (in 2010 - $150 million). The increase was mainly due to the growth of Russian exports from $28.4 million in 2010 to $63.7 million in 2011. In the structure of exports from Russia to Ghana, the main place is occupied by fertilizers (in 2011 - in the amount of $26 million), ferrous metallurgy products,newsprint. Mineral fertilizers are exported to Ghana by Russian companies: JSC "Kuibyshevazot" (ammonium nitrate), JSC "Novomoskovskaya AK" Azot "(ammonium nitrate), which is part of JSC " MKH "Euro-Chem", and JSC "Dorogobuzh" (azofoska 16: 16: 16). Russian manufacturers sell almost the entire volume of their products through foreign trading companies.

Imports from Ghana (worth $ 116.4 million in 2011) are dominated by cocoa beans and cocoa products, as well as tropical timber and products made from it.

Today, cooperation in the energy and mining sectors is most actively developing. Since 2007, LUKOIL Overseas, as part of a consortium of companies Vanco Ghana Ltd. and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), has been implementing a project to develop an oil and gas field in the Cape Three Points Deep Water (CTPDW) block on the Ghanaian coast.

on the shelf. In 2009, the consortium started drilling exploration wells.

In February 2010, LUKOIL President V. Y. Alekperov and former Ghanaian President J. E. Atta Mills met in Accra to announce the discovery of commercial hydrocarbon reserves at Dzata-1 of the CTPDW block. In 2011, the company conducted exploration and appraisal drilling at new structures in the CTPDW block, but no commercial oil and gas reserves were identified. Re-drilling is scheduled for June 2013. According to the representative office of LUKOIL Overseas in Ghana, investments in the project amounted to more than $350 million.

RAO Rosneftegazstroy (RNGS) is interested in participating in investment projects in the gas industry. In November 2011, a delegation from this company visited Accra. During the visit, negotiations were held with the General Director of the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGK) on the participation of RNGS in the development of the Ghanaian gas industry. In March of this year, RNGS prepared and submitted to GNGC a project for the development of the gas industry, taking into account its participation. In addition, RNGS is considering the possibility of attracting financing and technologies for the modernization of the local oil refinery. Roskomnadzor's participation in gas infrastructure development projects may become more complicated due to Ghana's receipt of an $850 million loan from the China Development Bank, which provides for the participation of Chinese companies at all stages of gas project implementation.⁷

The growing investment of foreign companies in geological exploration on the Ghanaian Ocean shelf opens up good prospects for Russia's entry into the local market of enterprises engaged in side activities. Thus, in 2011, TMK made an attempt to participate in the supply of pipes for the construction of the second section of the 36 km gas pipeline from the Yubileynoye field (Ghanaian Ocean shelf) to a gas processing plant in the Western Region of the country, but did not win the tender.

Cooperation in the field of nuclear energy is being established. After negotiations in Moscow in November 2011, the Ghanaian side made a fundamental decision on the development of local nuclear power with an eye to the construction of a nuclear power plant with the participation of ROSATOM State Corporation. Currently, the parties have agreed on the text of the Memorandum of Understanding between ROSATOM State Corporation and the Ministry of Energy of Ghana on cooperation in the field of peaceful uses of atomic energy, and it is planned to sign it in the near future.

Traditionally, Russian businesses are very interested in investing in the mining sector of Ghana. Most of the companies with Russian participation are engaged in gold mining. These are mainly small and medium-sized companies, sometimes private entrepreneurs who do not register their activities and work "in the shadows", because in Ghana it is forbidden for foreign companies to participate in small-scale gold mining (on plots of less than 10 hectares). Some of them operate in the country as service companies, while others mine and export gold as part of joint ventures with Ghanaian partners. For example, in 2011 CJSC" Itomak " opened a representative office in Moscow.-

construction in Accra and the start of the implementation of processing plants for gold mining enterprises.

There is also a noticeable increase in Russian business structures in the field of bauxite mining. In 2011, Vimetco, through which Russia's Vi Holding is implementing a project to create an integrated aluminum industry in Ghana, received a license to conduct preliminary geological exploration at the Aya Nyunahin and Atewa Range fields. Since September 2011, exploration and appraisal drilling has been carried out at the fields.

Housing construction is developing at an accelerated pace in the country. Renaissance Group, which has Russian capital (about 50% owned by M. D. Prokhorov's group of companies), has launched a project to build two new cities in Ghana. It is expected that the investment amount will reach $200 million.

The initiative of Techno-NIKOL, one of the largest manufacturers of building materials in Russia, to open a temporary storage warehouse for its products in the free economic zone and sell building materials both on the local market and on the scale of the West African region, seems promising. Mainly due to the lack of information about the local market situation and the need for large investments in restoring the operation of enterprises "from scratch".

Cooperation at the level of Chambers of Commerce and industry has made a significant contribution to boosting Russian-Ghanaian business relations. In May 2011, a Russian-Ghanaian business forum was held in Moscow, organized by the Embassy of Ghana in the Russian Federation with the support of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI). The meeting was attended by heads of Ghanaian specialized economic structures, as well as representatives of Russian organizations interested in working in the Ghanaian market, such as Sollers OJSC, General Sat-light Corporation, and the National Telemedicine Agency NGO.

Despite a number of promising opportunities for developing cooperation, Russian business is still largely inert. Thus, the proposals of the Ghanaian Privatization Committee sent to the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry regarding the modernization and purchase of glass and tire industry enterprises did not arouse interest among Russian businessmen.

There are also constraints to the development of bilateral trade and economic ties. On the one hand, this is the traditional orientation of Accra towards partners from the United States and the EU, the growing influence of China, whose products "clog" almost all niches in the Ghanaian market, problems with the organization of project financing, and a large level of fraud against foreign companies. On the other hand, the Russian side is primarily poorly informed about the opportunities of Africa as a whole and Ghana.

One of the problems faced by Russian companies in Ghana is the limited solvency of local counterparties. Thus, OJSC KAMAZ, having competitive equipment, has not been able to gain a foothold in the local market for two years due to the need to develop credit and leasing instruments for pre-financing the supply of its equipment. It seems that the development of appropriate tools with the participation of Russian banking structures could open up new opportunities for financing supplies from Russia to Ghana. In addition, the possibility of implementing investment projects in Ghana - as part of Russia's participation in bilateral international development assistance programs for 2012-2014-could create an additional impetus for attracting our companies to the Ghanaian market.

In general, political stability and sustained economic growth in Ghana are a good basis for further development of bilateral cooperation between our countries and create the potential for its expansion to the entire West African region.

^{Cobblah Michael N.A.} 1 Economic expectations for 2012 // Business & Financial Times. 23.01.2012.

² Statement at the conclusion of an IMF Mission to Ghana // Press Release No.12/64, March 2, 2012.

^{Mingle E. & Abdul-Rahaman S.} 3 We are making good progress // The Ghanaian Times. 17.02.2012.

^{4 http://www.economy} watch.com/economic-statistics/country/ Ghana

⁵ President's State of the Nation Address -2012 // Daily Graphic. 17.02.2012.

⁶ Ghana Business News. 19.06.12.

^{Kwablah E.} 7 Good start, challenging times ahead // Business & Financial Times. 21.12.2011.

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