Medvedev, Chavez Sign Oil Agreements Before War Games

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez agreed to form joint ventures to pump crude oil and to increase military and nuclear cooperation yesterday in the first visit by a Russian president to the South American country.

Medvedev and Chavez today will tour the Russian atomic- powered navy cruiser Peter the Great, which is visiting Venezuela along with three other Russian vessels. The ships will conduct exercises in the Caribbean Sea with the Venezuelan navy in the coming days.
Medvedev arrived in Venezuela after visiting Peru and Brazil as part of a Latin America tour. He will fly to Cuba today, winding up a week-long visit to promote economic and political ties in the region.

“The world is becoming multipolar,” Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russia’s upper house of parliament, said yesterday at the event in Caracas. “Latin America is also one of the poles of strength.”

“ Russia is back in Latin America, Russia is back in Africa, and Russia is back in Asia,” Margelov said. “We are ready to work in markets where we can be competitive.”

OAO Gazprom and four Russian oil companies will create a joint venture with Petroleos de Venezuela SA to pump and refine oil from the country’s Orinoco Belt, Gazprom Deputy Chief Executive Officer Alexander Medvedev said yesterday in Caracas.

Bloomberg