Putin's cook in Africa

Bloomberg spoke about the actions of Evgeny Prigozhin's structures in Africa

Businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is called the chef of Russian President Vladimir Putin and whose structures are associated with participation in the war in Syria and interference in the US presidential elections, is spreading his influence in African countries, writes Bloomberg .

Prigozhin offers security services, armaments and political advice to African leaders in exchange for mining rights and other opportunities, the agency's interlocutors say. These are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Sudan, Libya, Madagascar, Angola, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and the Central African Republic.

Prigozhin's activity has risen ahead of Putin preparing to host more than 50 leaders for the first Russia-Africa summit in 2019. This is an event that will cement "Russia's active presence in the region," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said earlier.

Prigozhin's political technologists helped Emmerson Mnangagwa win the election of the head of Zimbabwe. The businessman is expanding his influence in the mineral-rich Democratic Republic of the Congo, where presidential elections are about to take place. Another country that Putin and Prigogine are interested in is Madagascar, the world's largest producer of vanilla and the owner of large deposits of nickel, cobalt and uranium. In March, a Kremlin envoy flew to the island for talks with the then president. Russian political strategists linked to Prigozhin are in the country amid a tough race for the presidency that ends next month. The Russians also operate in Guinea, which is the largest supplier of bauxite for Rusal.

Prigozhin took part in the talks between Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Libyan commander Khalifa Haftar. It provides military services to Haftar's national army in exchange for energy deals.