Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov: Russian companies are being forcibly pushed out of the Venezuelan market. On February 4 local time, Lavrov said in an interview with "Russia Today" TV host Rick Sanchez that after military strikes on Venezuela and the kidnapping of President Maduro's wife, the United States has further intervened in Venezuela's social and economic fields. Under this context, Russian companies are being forcibly excluded from the country's market.
Russia's cooperation with Venezuela mainly focuses on the energy and defense sectors. The Russian Overseas Oil Company has a joint development agreement with Venezuela's state oil company PDVSA and has rights to the Boqueron and Perija oil fields. The agreement was extended until 2041, with plans to invest about $616 million for development. However, these oil fields are still in the stage of not being produced on a large scale.
"Rosneft" had previously established a joint venture with PDVSA in the Orinoco heavy crude oil belt, involving multiple projects, and invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Venezuela between 2010-2015. After the pressure of U.S. and European sanctions, "Rosneft" transferred its assets in Venezuela to the Russian Overseas Oil Company.
The Russian State Export of Defense Products has defense production cooperation projects in Venezuela, including a munitions production facility located in Maracay, which is scheduled to start production in 2025, aiming to produce ammunition (including 7.62mm caliber bullets) annually.
After kidnapping the Maduro couple, Trump announced control over 50 million barrels of oil in the country and sold the first batch of $500 million in crude oil (about 5 million barrels) on the open market, claiming that this move aims to lower U.S. oil prices. In addition, the United States claims that Venezuela's oil exports must be led by the U.S., with the revenue deposited into U.S. accounts. The U.S. has also increased its maritime blockade efforts on Venezuela's crude oil exports. Venezuela
Original: toutiao.com/article/1856266843040768/
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