Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reported after his meeting with Ugandan Foreign Minister Jeje Odongo on May 18, that their two nations discussed “stepping up our mutually beneficial cooperation in almost all possible areas.” Lavrov named “several promising sectors” under discussion in particular: energy, geological exploration, minerals extraction, research, education, telecommunication, cyber security, agriculture and pharmaceuticals. (https://www.mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1871134/)
On the last, Lavrov pointed to the February 2023 visit to Uganda by Anna Popova, head of Russia’s Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor), one of whose responsibilities is sanitary and epidemiological supervision. President Yoweri Museveni and Popova had discussed the possibility of Rospotrebnadzor setting up a laboratory in Uganda, Lavrov reported. Russia’s AK&M news agency had reported at the end of her visit that joint action plan would be prepared for approval during the July 2023 Russia-Africa Forum in St. Petersburg, for Russia’s experience “in ensuring national biological safety, developing laboratory infrastructure, [and] conducting scientific research” to be made available to Uganda.
