Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro will meet in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss the development of bilateral trade ties, among many other issues.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th December, 2018) Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro will meet in Moscow on Wednesday to discuss the development of bilateral trade ties, among many other issues.Venezuela became the first Latin American country to have its independence recognized by Russia on December 17, 1857.
Diplomatic relations between the Soviet Union and Venezuela were established on March 14, 1945. The ties were interrupted on June 13, 1952, by decision of the Soviet government due to the absence of conditions for the normal work of Soviet representatives in Venezuela. On April 16, 1970, the two countries resumed diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level.
In December 1991, Venezuela recognized Russia as the successor state of the Soviet Union.
The states signed the Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation between Russia and Venezuela on May 24, 1996, setting legal foundation for their bilateral relations.
Moscow and Caracas have been intensively developing political dialogue, working together to expand and diversify bilateral ties in various fields and to boost strategic partnership.
The Russian and Venezuelan presidents first met in September 2000 in New York on the sidelines of the 55th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Then-Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez repeatedly visited Russia (in 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010).
The important milestones in the relations between the two countries were the first-ever visit of the Russian president to Venezuela on November 26-27, 2008, and the visit of the Russian prime minister to Venezuela's capital Caracas on April 2, 2010. These visits gave a new impetus to the strategic partnership of the countries in the political, trade and economic, energy, financial, scientific, defense industry and other fields.
More than 40 cooperation agreements on culture, higher education, sport, as well as on mutual recognition and on the equivalence of diplomas, were signed following the visits.
On July 1-2, 2013, Venezuela's newly-elected President Nicolas Maduro paid his first official visit to Russia. He participated in the second summit of the Heads of State and Government of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) participating states and met with Putin. His substantive talks with Putin reaffirmed the mutual desire of Moscow and Caracas to continue gradually deepening their strategic partnership.
In January 2015, Putin and Maduro met during the latter's brief visit to Russia as part of his tour to oil-producing countries.
On May 9, 2015, the Venezuelan president attended celebrations in Moscow commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War victory.
The same year, the two leaders met in September on the sidelines of ceremonies in Beijing marking the end of World War II, and later, in November, during the third summit of the GECF in Tehran.
In October 2016, the Russian and Venezuelan leaders held talks on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress in Istanbul.
Putin met with Maduro in Moscow on October 4, 2017, the Issues of bilateral, political, trade and economic cooperation were discussed during the talks. Maduro also took part in the Russian Energy Week forum.
On July 9, 2018, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev and Maduro had a brief conversation in Ankara before the inauguration of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Intensive contacts between the Russian and Venezuelan foreign ministers continue to form a significant part of bilateral political dialogue. In 2011, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in Venezuela on an official visit, while in May 2015 Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez visited Russia. In February 2017, Rodriguez arrived in Russia for a working visit again.
On February 27, 2018, Lavrov had a brief conversation with his Venezuelan counterpart Jorge Arreaza in Geneva.
On September 26, Lavrov met with Maduro on the sidelines of the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly in New York.
Consultations between foreign ministries on the international issues and bilateral relations are held on systematic basis. The countries also develop inter-parliamentary and inter-ministerial contacts.
In October 2018, a Russian delegation headed by Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak visited Venezuela and held a meeting with Maduro.
Russia-Venezuela relations in the trade, economic and investment spheres are developing steadily. Russian companies, such as Rosneft energy giant, Gazprombank, energy holding company Inter RAO and Rostec state corporation, are actively working in the Venezuelan market. The basis of the investment cooperation is joint energy projects, primarily the exploitation of oil and gas reserves.
Russia and Venezuela are discussing the possibility of assembling cars on Venezuelan territory, vaccine production, investment projects in the Venezuelan Arco Minero area, famous for its gold reserves.
Russia and Venezuela, together with other countries, are taking measures to stabilize the situation on the oil market, and are closely coordinating their actions in this area with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the largest independent oil producers.
According to the Russian Federal Customs Service, Russia's trade with Venezuela totaled $68.4 million in 2017, with Russia exporting $67.6 million worth of goods and importing $755,000 in goods.
In January-September 2018, the volume of foreign trade between Russia and Venezuela amounted to $79.4 million. Russian exports totaled $78.7 million, while imports reached $720,000.
Russian exports to Venezuela mainly include food and agricultural products, chemical industry products, machinery, equipment and transport vehicles and others. The imports are represented mainly by food and agricultural products.
The main mechanism for developing trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Venezuela is the Intergovernmental Russian-Venezuelan High-Level Commission, established on December 23, 2002. A meeting of the commission was held in Caracas in April, 2018.
Defense industry cooperation between the two countries is developing on the basis of an intergovernmental agreement signed in May 2001 during Chavez's visit to Moscow.
The first contracts in the field of defense industry were signed in Caracas in 2005. A contract for the supply of Russian AK-103 Kalashnikov rifles was signed in May, 2005. They were delivered to the Venezuelan army in 2006. Mi-family helicopters, Tor-M1 missile systems, Su-family fighters, other weapons and military equipment have also been delivered to Venezuela.
In 2006, the parties signed a contract for the construction of a helicopter maintenance and repair center, which opened in 2013, as well as a plant to produce Kalashnikov assault rifles and their ammunition. The plant is expected to be launched in 2019.
In April 2018, Defense Minister of Venezuela Vladimir Padrino Lopez took part in the 7th Moscow Conference on International Security (MCIS-2018). Padrino Lopez also held negotiations with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu. In July, Venezuelan soldiers took part in the international military games Army-2018, which had been held in Russia.
Cooperation in the educational, cultural and humanitarian fields plays an important role in the bilateral relations. The number of student exchanges and contacts between scientists and artists of the two countries are growing, which contributes to the increase of mutual understanding and sympathy between the two nations.
In November 2018, Russian representatives took part in Venezuela's 14th International Book Festival in Caracas.
