Russia is set to establish a naval logistic centre and repair yard in Sudan under a new agreement signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin on Nov. 6 but just made public this week.

According to the content of the agreement, the naval logistics centre will host up to 300 people. This figure includes both naval service members and civilian personnel. The base can host up to four naval vessels, including nuclear-powered ones.

The Sudanese government will provide Russia with the necessary port infrastructure and a piece of land free of charge.

Also, Russia will be allowed to transfer “any kind of military equipment or munitions, equipment or material” through Sudanese ports that are required for the centre, the agreement read.

The centre will function under Russia’s jurisdiction, and the agreement will last for 25 years, with the option to renew it for another 10-year period.

The naval logistics centre in Sudan will be Russia’s first military base in Africa since the collapse of the Soviet Union. During that time, the country had a permanent naval base in Somalia.

Some years back, Russia began looking for ways to establish a permanent base in Djibouti, which already hosts Chinese and American naval bases but negotiations failed.

It’s unclear how much the centre will cost. According to estimates provided by Nezavisimaya Gazeta daily, Russia plans to spend up to 3.2 billion roubles (U.S. $41.5 million) annually to develop its base in Tartus, Syria. The Soviet-era naval logistics centre in the Mediterranean was transformed into a permanent base soon after Russia intervened in the Syrian civil war.

According to defence columnist Dmitry Litovkin, who wrote in a column for Russian state news agency Tass, the opening of the Sudanese centre shows that “Russia is returning to the World Ocean”. It is said that Russia’s nuclear-powered cruisers can use the center as a resting place for its crew members, Litovkin noted.

“The sailors of the Northern and Baltic fleets will not have to make exhausting transitions in order to spend several months in the Indian Ocean,” he wrote.

Talks to open a logistics center in Sudan accelerated after Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir visited Russia in 2017. Despite a 2019 coup that removed al-Bashir from power, the talks continued with the de facto head of the country Lt. Gen. Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman al-Burhan.