MOSCOW, November 2. /TASS/. Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro may visit Russia by the end of this year to discuss economic projects, the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela’s vice president on economic development, Jesus Faria, said commenting on media reports about Venezuelan leader’s possible visit to Russia.
Nicolas Maduro’s previous visit to Russia was held on October 4, 2017.
"I cannot tell you the timeframe of the visit, but it will be nothing unusual if it takes place. Russia is Venezuela’s main ally, so the agenda will be very broad. The presidents will discuss cooperation in economy, energy, culture, science and defense," Faria said.
According to the official, the economic aspect "will be discussed very thoroughly."
"We have concentrated all our efforts on economic recovery. Besides, industry will be one of the main topics, because Russia has huge productive capacities. Russia has huge experience in the areas where Venezuela has great potential," Faria went on. "That’s why Russia’s main economic actors could take part in projects within the framework of our new policy, including in the oil and gas, petrochemical and metallurgical sectors, as well as in aluminum production and wood processing industry. Besides, the sector of services, tourism and the financial sector can also be of interest, and this is only a small portion of possibilities for cooperation."
"A huge number of deals was signed by our countries, and we want to put them into practical forms, so that they could contribute to production growth,’ the Venezuelan official added. "Cooperation with Russia will help to achieve more."
Faria leads a delegation of Venezuelan officials, which has arrived in Russia to brief Moscow on its economic recovery program.
"We have arrived to spread information about our new program for Venezuela’s economic recovery. It was introduced just about two months ago," Faria said in an interview with TASS. "We are scheduled to meet with politicians, scientists and media representatives. The agenda is fairly intense, and it is intended promote better understanding of Venezuela’s economic policy given the current complicated situation in our country."
‘We intend to talk to our colleagues from the State Duma [the lower chamber of the Russian parliament], representatives of Russia’s main political parties, representatives of the Institute of Latin America Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences," the Venezuelan official continued. "We will also meet with representatives of companies involved in cryptocurrency operations, because we have a project of Petro [a cryptocurrency created by Venezuela] and we are interested in meeting with Russian experts in this domain, because they have worldwide reputation."
The official added that his country was ready for new formats of cooperation in the oil sector with its foreign partners, including Rosneft.
"During the negotiations, which are being conducted by Venezuela’s oil company PDVSA, schemes of cooperation within the framework of joint ventures are being analyzed and reviewed," Faria said in an interview with TASS.
"We are ready to adapt ourselves to new terms and, probably, timeframes in order to guarantee the growth of oil extraction, refining and production of oil products. We are open for introduction and use of new schemes and conditions in order to carry out our new economic policy in the international context, taking into account the needs of our state and citizens," the official continued.
Speaking about cooperation with Rosneft, the official said that "PDVSA operational scheme includes the repayment of debts."
Faria also said Russia plays a key role in the concept of the multi-polar world.
"[We have] attained a high level of cooperation in the economic, scientific, cultural and military sheres," he said. "Those successes are based on trust, on determining common goals and targets. We would like to express our stance and vision of the new economic policy, which, among other things, is intended to further increase confidence and closeness between our nations."