Medvedev, Chavez sign cooperation agreements

Talks in Caracas between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chavez have yielded a host of bilateral agreements.

Dmitry Medvedev arrived in the Venezuelan capital late on Wednesday for a two-day visit, the first by a Russian head of state for 150 years.

The two parties signed a 25-year intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in oil, gas and power generation with an option to extend it for another five years, said Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who is accompanying Medvedev.

«Cooperation in the oil sector covers the entire chain from development and transportation to the construction of pipelines, equipment supplies and refining», Sechin said.

The agreement also includes building hydro and thermal power plants, and support for mining projects, he added.

Russian energy giant Gazprom and Venezuela's state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) signed an agreement on joint prospecting for oil at the Ayacucho-3 block in the Orinoco Oil Belt.

The two energy giants could launch talks to set up a joint venture.

Oil, jointly produced by PDVSA and a newly established Russian oil consortium that includes Gazprom, the country's largest independent crude producer LUKoil and Russian-British joint oil venture TNK-BP, will be exported to the U.S., Chinese and European markets.

A memo of understanding was signed between the Russian United Shipbuilding Corporation and PDVSA Naval, a shipbuilding subsidiary of PDVSA.

The two countries also agreed to sign another intergovernmental agreement to set up a joint bank within the next two weeks, Medvedev said.

The joint bank could become an instrument to finance projects in Russia and Venezuela, and will handle payments for oil supplies and will involve Gazprombank, Russia's third-largest bank. The Russian president said Moscow and Caracas could switch to national currencies in bilateral payments.

Medvedev also said that the two countries intended to boost contacts in the defense sector, in line with international law.

Medvedev and Chavez will visit Russia's Northern Fleet missile cruiser, the Pyotr Veliky, later on Thursday in Venezuela's La Guaira port. The naval vessel leads a Russian task force due to take part in joint naval exercises in the Caribbean on December 1.

Medvedev will crown his Latin American tour with a visit to Cuba later on Thursday.

28/11/2008, The Moscow News

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