Slovenia wants embassy in Algeria to boost bilateral relations

 ALGIERS-The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, Tanjia Fajon expressed Tuesday her country’s willingness to open an embassy in Algeria to boost bilateral relations.
In a statement to the press at the end of the audience granted to her by the President of the Republic, Abdelmadjid Tebboune, at the headquarters of the Presidency of the Republic, Fajon said that the Republic of Slovenia "intends to open an embassy in Algeria and work with the Algerian authorities hand in hand.”
“I discussed with President Tebboune the partnership between the two countries,” she continued.
“Slovenia seeks to strengthen economic and political cooperation with Algeria. I welcomed the contract signed Tuesday by Sonatrach and the Slovenian company, Geoplin for the supply of Slovenia with natural gas through the pipeline linking Algeria to Italy for three years from January 2023,” stated the same official.
She called the contract "historic" for the Republic of Slovenia which seeks to "strengthen its relations with Algeria by taking advantage of numerous investment opportunities offered in the field of energy and renewable energy.”
She also called Sonatrach and Geoplin to "work together for our common future," stressing that the signing of this contract "is an important step in the history of partnership between the two countries.”
The audience took place in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community abroad, Ramtane Lamamra, the Chief of Staff at the Presidency of the Republic, Abdelaziz Khellaf, and the Minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Arkab.
 
Algeria, Slovenia sign natural gas supply contract, “first step” in bilateral cooperation
ALGIERS-Minister of Energy and Mines, Mohamed Arkab stressed Tuesday in Algiers that the signing of a contract for the supply of natural gas to Slovenia between Sonatrach and Geoplin groups was “the first step” in bilateral cooperation in the energy and mining sectors.
“Bilateral cooperation will be expanded to several fields under a joint ministerial action program,” he continued.
In a speech delivered at the end of the signing of the 3-year contract, Arkab announced that an action program will be drawn up between the Ministry of Energy and Mines and Slovenia’s Ministry of Infrastructure. It will cover hydrocarbon exploration and prospecting, mining, electricity, and renewable energy.
In this regard, the minister recalled that both parties “seek to seal other contracts to develop this historical relationship between the two countries and enhance their business relations in several fields.”
For his part, Slovenia’s Minister of Infrastructure, Bojan Kumer stressed that the contract signed between Sonatrach and Geoplin is of great importance to both countries, as it contributes to achieving energy security in Slovenia.
“We discussed ways of strengthening cooperation, signing a memorandum of understanding between the two countries, and developing business in other fields,” said the Slovenian official.
Lamamra discusses with Slovenia’s Deputy Prime Minister
 
ALGIERS- Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad Ramtane Lamamra held Tuesday, in Algiers, one-to-one discussions with Slovenia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanja Fajon who is on a working visit to Algiers, before c-chairing with her a working session broadened to the members of the two delegations, according to a ministerial statement.
 
On this occasion, the two ministers welcomed the new momentum marking the relations between Algeria and Slovenia as well as promising prospects to strengthen and extend them to new fields, notably energy, mines, renewable energy and digitization, said the source.
 
The two countries’ Foreign ministers discussed a wide range of topical issues at the regional and international levels, as well as various aspects of the Euro-Mediterranean partnership and relations between Algeria and the European Union, said the source.
 
The meeting between the two ministers was followed by the signing ceremony of the agreement between Sonatrach and Slovenian energy group Geoplin on the renewal, as from January 2023, of a contract to supply Slovenia with natural gas, in the presence of Minister of Energy and Mines Mohamed Arkab and his Slovenian counterpart Bojan Kumer.