CARACAS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th February, 2022) Russia and Venezuela intend to explore prospects for new joint projects and fulfill those already in progress, as well as boost trade, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said on Wednesday at a meeting with the Venezuelan vice-president for economic issues, Tareck El Aissami.
"It is encouraging that the bilateral trade increased by almost 50% last year compared with 2020," Borisov said.
The Russian official noted that the leaders of the two countries reaffirmed the strategic nature of bilateral relations during the latest phone call on January 20. The presidents also noted positive dynamics of trade and economic cooperation and drew up objectives for further bilateral cooperation, Borisov recalled.
"Venezuela is a strategic partner of Russia in Latin America and in the world as a whole. We highly appreciate the allied nature of our international coordination and the trusted political dialogue. In the context of the current increasing tensions in the world, the coordination of Russian-Venezuelan cooperation is of particular importance," Borisov said, adding that "the bilateral agreements reached on paper are now to be put into practice."
Russia will also continue to provide Venezuela with assistance in tackling the pandemic, Borisov said, specifying that 7.2 million of Sputnik V vaccine doses have been delivered to the Latin American country so far.
"We see that despite the pressure of sanctions by the United States and its allies, the leadership of Venezuela managed to restore full economic activity, ensure a progressive increase in oil production, and redirect the economy to sustainable development," Borisov said.
Currently, there are 20 cooperation agreements between the countries and both Russia and Venezuela are members of the OPEC+ alliance of oil producers. Russian-Venezuelan relations are based heavily on energy projects.
