CARACAS, July 28 (Itar-Tass) – The whole range of agreements seeking to expand bilateral economic cooperation were signed during a visit to Venezuela of Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who rounded off his visit to the country on Monday. At the Miraflores Palace Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Igor Sechin and members of the Russian delegation attended the signing ceremony of an agreement on founding a joint venture between Gazprom and the Venezuelan state-owned petroleum corporation Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA) in order to provide services in the oil and gas industry, a supplement to the memorandum on mutual understanding between Rostechnologii state corporation represented by Prominvest and PDVSA on creating a joint venture in order to solve ecological problems and provide services in the oil and gas sector.
The sides adopted a charter for establishing a joint venture for the pottery ware production between Russia’s Ruskaoin and the Guayana Venezuelan corporation that envisages the construction of five pottery mills and initialled a draft intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the fisheries industry.
The countries also signed the regulations on an intergovernmental committee for military-technical cooperation.
Meanwhile, Russian Vice-Premier Igor Sechin said relations between the two countries are built “on a long-term basis with due account of mutual interests. The vice-premier expressed gratitude to “Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Venezuelan colleagues for contribution they are making in the development of strategic relations between Venezuela and Russia for the benefit of the two peoples.”
Igor Sechin noted the just-signed documents for establishing joint ventures in the oil and gas sector and the construction of five pottery mills, as well as a draft intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the fisheries. The Russian vice-premier said he visited the Hunin-6 oil block in the Orinoco oil belt, where the Russian National Oil Consortium and the Venezuelan state-owned petroleum corporation Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. are planning to launch the heavy crude production after creating a joint venture.
During the visit the sides were preparing for a meeting of the Russian-Venezuelan High Level Intergovernmental Commission due in Petersburg in August 2009. Igor Sechin heads the Russian side of the Commission, and Vice-President Ramon Carrizalez co-chairs the Venezuelan side.
Igor Sechin expressed hope that Hugo Chavez would visit Russia this year. Before the document signing ceremony the Russian vice-premier presented to Chavez memorable gifts on his 55th birthday from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and personally from himself.
Meanwhile Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez praised highly the results of the visit of the Russian delegation headed by Igor Sechin. “The today’s meeting with Russian Vice-Premier Igor Sechin reaffirms the active dialogue at a high political level, which was reached during the last November visit of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Venezuela,” Chavez said.
In his speech the Venezuelan president said it is necessary to form a multi-polar world. “Our approaches with the Russian president coincide in this issue,” he said. Chavez noted that the integration processes in Latin America and the Caribbean Sea basin allow speaking “on a new regional pole of forces, which will be built up thanks to the cooperation with Russia.”
