RT-Engels: 26-03-2025,
Sergey Naryshkin has accused European powers, particularly Britain, Belgium, and France, of “unrestrained exploitation”
The West is continuing to “cause damage to humanity” through neocolonial practices, including looting resources from African countries, Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Director Sergey Naryshkin has said. He cited France as an example, accusing Paris of importing uranium from its former colony, Niger, at extremely low prices for six decades.
Naryshkin made the remarks during a roundtable discussion on the history of the fight against colonialism, organized by the Russian Historical Society (RHS) in Moscow on Tuesday.
“It is enough to recall, for example, how France purchased uranium from Niger for 60 years at a humiliatingly low price – 80 cents per kilogram,” he said.
“But as soon as the French military contingent was withdrawn from this country last year, the price of uranium was raised by the new government to the market price – more than 200 times,” Naryshkin, who is also the chairman of the RHS, added.
Niger’s new leadership, which took power following a coup in July 2023, has taken several measures to cut ties with France. Last year, the military government revoked a license that had allowed French state-owned company Orano to operate one of the world’s largest uranium mines in the West African country – the world’s seventh-largest uranium producer. The miner had been operating in Niger since 1971.