petersburg is lora evgenievna chkonia, researcher, uh, central eastern and african studies institute international studies mgimo a and co-author of a recent altaintage? russia in relation to other world centers of power that are fighting for influence in africa colleagues good afternoon. i think there are four, perhaps, factors that need to be mentioned about the uniqueness of russia and we need to talk about the soviet legacy. still, the russian african partnership has passed the test of time, and it seems to me that after all, russia is not returning to africa. it has always been with it, and since the soviet period, when there was significant, and political economic financial military, and technical assistance to our african partners and friends. secondly, we support our african colleagues' own development agenda. this is psychologically very important for them. they have their own development institutions, we are talking about the african union african export import bank. and they have, uh, a lot of regional associations that are really very active and it is important for them to feel that we support such a philosophy. african solutions for