ST. PETERSBURG, June 6. /TASS/. Russia and Venezuela have great opportunities for developing cooperation in the nuclear energy industry, Vice President of Venezuela for Economics and Finance, Jose Felix Rivas Alvarado, who heads the Venezuelan delegation at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), told TASS.

"There are enormous opportunities for developing the use of peaceful atoms not only in production, but also in the social sphere, such as medicine," Alvarado noted.

"I think there are a number of possibilities that the [Venezuelan] Ministry of Science is working on," he continued.

In February, speaking at a press conference following negotiations in Caracas with his Venezuelan counterpart Ivan Gil Pinto Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia and Venezuela agreed to increase the pace and volume of cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear use, as well as in the field of oil production.

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) is held on June 5-8. This year’s theme will be "The Formation of New Areas of Growth as the Cornerstone of a Multipolar World." Scheduled events include meetings for small and medium-sized businesses, creative industries, the SPIEF Youth Day, as well as the Drug Security, SPIEF Academy and SPIEF Junior forums. SPIEF is organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is the information partner of the event.