Central African Republic: the authorities do not renew Russian customs cooperation
Russian units accompanying the Central African president, December 12, 2020 © RFI - Charlotte Cosset
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
The Central African authorities have announced the end, or in any case the reassessment, of Russian customs cooperation.
This agreement signed on May 7 caused great controversy, particularly following videos showing Russian agents searching UN vehicles.
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The financial partners of the
Central African Republic
had also expressed their concern.
The authorities have therefore decided to review this cooperation, according to a letter dated October 6.
"
I have the honor to inform you of the end of the technical assistance mission to the various Central African customs posts
," wrote Hervé Ndoba to the head of the Russian economic mission.
In this letter, the Central African Minister of the Economy recalls that the mechanism of this mission provided for a quarterly evaluation.
The Central African authorities say they are satisfied with these first three months, they validated the recommendations made and decide to put an end to the mission in its current form from October 10.
A customs mission that was
not very well received
by some players. Traders denounced "
surcharges
" from Russian agents. In addition, the IMF and the World Bank had asked for details on this cooperation agreement. Several diplomatic actors had also said they were "
worried
" by this agreement which had come to strain some bilateral relations a little more.
If this letter means the end of customs cooperation in its current form.
However, the Government indicates that it wishes to continue to benefit from technical assistance from the Director General of Customs.
The format and the terms of reference to be defined according to "
the recommendations of our technical and financial partners
", specifies the Minister.
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Central African Republic
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