Russia – Venezuela

KEY CONCLUSIONS

The two countries’ many years of cooperation have helped to address common problems

Russia and Venezuela are steadfast strategic partners. At the heart of this partnership lies the dialogue that was forged between our leaders: Russian President Vladimir Putin and the prominent Venezuelan Hugo Chávez — Alexander Shchetinin, Director of the Latin American Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

When it comes to attempts at isolation, sanctions and blockades, communications are what suffer first of all. We are administering a country which has maintained friendly ties with your nation for more than 25 years. There are historical roots to our friendship — Jose Felix Rivas Alvarado, Sectoral Vice President of Economy, Minister of the People's Power for Industries and National Production of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Russia and Venezuela have succeeded in building a direct mutual payment system

The most important thing we have is the ability to move money in both directions. We do not have this luxury with any other country in Latin America, and we must take advantage of it — Vladimir Padalko, Vice President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

There is already a turnover of roubles in Venezuela, and we have a foreign exchange market. This offers the ability to purchase the local currency, and to conduct transactions in roubles. We have entrepreneurs from Venezuela and government agencies which can also make payments in roubles. This is already a reality — Calixto Jose Ortega Sanchez, President, Central Bank of Venezuela.

ISSUES

Western sanctions

Our countries – Russia and Venezuela – are currently undergoing a very challenging period in our development. However, no underhand scheming or sanctions have broken either us, or the Venezuelans. On the contrary, they have helped our peoples, our governments, our businesspeople find the inner strength needed to boost domestic production — Alexander Shchetinin, Director of the Latin American Department, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

Sanctions have had a very strong impact on our economy since 2015. These sanctions were aimed at paralysing and strangling the central government in our country — Jose Felix Rivas Alvarado, Sectoral Vice President of Economy, Minister of the People's Power for Industries and National Production of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Providing the population with food and medication are key tasks for Russia and Venezuela

The country is faced with a major challenge – to address food security issues. This does not only concern countries under sanctions, although it does primarily relate to them — Yarosh Sergey, President, Chairman of the Executive Board, Evrofinance Mosnarbank; Chairman, Russia-Venezuela Entrepreneurs Council.

As a tropical country, we do not produce wheat. Russia is a major wheat supplier for us. We have great traditions of enjoying wheat-based foods, and we are supplied with excellent-quality wheat from Russia. When we set up production in our country, we began to export some products — Wilmar Alfredo Castro Soteldo, Minister of People's Power for Agriculture and Lands of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Prior to Geropharm coming to Venezuela in 2019, Western companies stopped supplies of insulin to the country, and payments were blocked by Western banks. That is in spite of the fact that this is a very sensitive social area. Today, we are working in a consistent manner to help Venezuela ensure national drug security — Irina Emchenko, International Business Development Director, Geropharm.

SOLUTIONS

Attracting investors, which will in turn help boost the export potential of both countries

We are counting on national and foreign investors to help strengthen our export potential and create currency reserves through exports. At the same time, this will help us strengthen our country’s industrial base — Jose Felix Rivas Alvarado, Sectoral Vice President of Economy, Minister of the People's Power for Industries and National Production of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

When it comes to investing, the Russian entrepreneur does not understand how to operate there for the long term, how to get there, or who will have their back. I would appeal to people at our federal government bodies – there absolutely has to be a state impulse — Vladimir Padalko, Vice President, Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation.

Russia is excellent when it comes to [the production of] means of mechanization. Irrigation systems, as well as livestock and plant genetics are your strong points too. You could assist us in this sense. We can be strategic partners in this regard as well — Wilmar Alfredo Castro Soteldo, Minister of People's Power for Agriculture and Lands of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Venezuela is not only geared towards development in the energy sector. That may be our engine, but we have other economic aspects as well — Jesús Rafael Salazar Velascas, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Focusing on tourism as a promising area of growth in relations between the two countries

Our President cited tourism among our various economic drivers as our secret weapon. The tourist industry is another sector to have suffered as a result of unilateral sanctions imposed on Venezuela. Indeed, it was the first industry to be directly affected by this since 2013 — Ali Padron, Minister of People's Power for Tourism of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

There are air links, there are payment systems, and there is experience. Remember that during the FIFA World Cup, the inflow from Venezuela and Latin America to St. Petersburg grew by 30%. Later, a winter route was developed for Latin America. And from the statistics, we can see that the flow was constantly increasing. We are ready to work together at a faster pace — Evgeniy Pankevich, Deputy Chairman of the Tourism Development Committee of the Government of St. Petersburg.

Joining forces in efforts to boost both countries’ independence across multiple areas

We are proceeding from the very fact that the world is shifting to a multipolar model, and that international projects must develop — Jose Felix Rivas Alvarado, Sectoral Vice President of Economy, Minister of the People's Power for Industries and National Production of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

We have everything – natural resources, human resources, a scientific base, and the requisite technologies. Clearly, if we join forces, we will be able to accomplish much more, and faster — Yarosh Sergey, President, Chairman of the Executive Board, Evrofinance Mosnarbank; Chairman, Russia-Venezuela Entrepreneurs Council.

We need to respond at the level of the state. A single businessman can only work to counter sanctions in keeping with state policy – nobody can manage it alone — Georgy Muradov, Deputy Chairman, Council of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea; Permanent Representative of the Republic of Crimea to the President of the Russian Federation.