Putin sees serious interest of Russian businesses in African countries, including Equatorial Guinea

MOSCOW. Nov 2 (Interfax) - Russian companies are seriously interested in cooperating with African countries, in particular with Equatorial Guinea, Russian President Vladimir Putin said, highlighting the potential of interacting with this country in developing mineral resources.

"There is something to work on. First and foremost, of course, one needs to concentrate on developing trade and economic ties. There is serious interest from Russian companies in working in Africa in general and your country in particular, potential investment opportunities are big, and the opportunities that your country has in terms of developing these relations are also good. I mean potential, primarily, the potential regarding extracting mineral resources," Putin said during talks in an expanded format with his counterpart from Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

As part of talks in a narrow format, the sides also discussed security issues and relations with countries in the region.

"We agreed on what and how we will do further in this area," Putin said.