Two-three years per one Belarusian project in Venezuela at most, Alexander Lukashenko says

The Belarusian-Venezuelan oil production joint venture PetroVenBel in the Venezuelan state Anzoategui was inaugurated on December 8. Attending the opening ceremony were presidents of the two states Alexander Lukashenko and Hugo Chavez. A historical event – the start of oil production - took place in the presence of Alexander Lukashenko and Hugo Chavez. It took about a year for Belarus and Venezuela to set up the joint venture. 60% of shares belong to Venezuela and the rest – to Belarus, BelTA learnt from the presidential press service. Venezuela allotted two oil deposits for the project. Next year the joint venture is expected to produce one million tonnes of “black gold”. There is an agreement to allot two more deposits what will enable PetroVenBel to increase the oil output to two million tonnes by 2009. At present specialists of the two states are evaluating other oil zones in Venezuela. Despite the fact that oil is heavy there, its production is economically sound considering the world oil prices. During a live satellite link-up the experts working in the Orinoco River basin informed the presidents of Belarus and Venezuela about the course of the work and about the plans. As it was noted, Venezuela possesses huge oil reserves and Belarus’ technologies are in great demand there. According to the experts, in four years the joint venture will be able to produce additional five million tonnes of oil. Thus, in the future PetroVenBel will get seven million tonnes a year. Considering high transportation costs, the Belarusian side does not rule out selling oil in the oil production region and buying the same amount in other countries. This is the worldwide practice to sell and refine oil in the region where it is produced. Belarus can successfully use this experience. Alexander Lukashenko thanked Venezuela for the assistance. According to the Belarusian leader, Belarus will do everything possible to ensure sovereignty, security and independence of Venezuela. “During the Soviet Union period Belarus was the most technologically developed and science-intensive republic of the country. We have preserved this potential and are ready to offer our technologies and knowledge to Venezuela. Within two or three years Belarus will set up companies here which you will be proud of,” the Belarusian leader stressed. “We agreed to boost the bilateral cooperation in the political, trade-economic, scientific-technical and humanitarian spheres,” the Belarusian leader noted. “There are no closed topics for Belarus in cooperation with Venezuela. The Belarusian-Venezuelan strategic partnership is based on sincere friendship. We have agreed to strengthen cooperation in international organisations. We are united by an independent foreign policy and socially-oriented domestic course, desire to build a multi-polar world and efforts to counteract the pressuring from outside,” the President said. Hugo Chavez confirmed the intention of Venezuela to develop cooperation with Belarus. As a token of the highest respect the Venezuelan leader presented Alexander Lukashenko with the supreme award of the country – the Order of the Liberator. Belarus and Venezuela signed an agreement on military-technical cooperation. The two countries signed also intergovernmental and interagency documents to promote cooperation in various areas. They include the agreement on cooperation in trade-economic area, on investment promotion, double tax agreement, on abolishing visas for the holders of diplomatic and service passports and other documents. Cooperation agreements were concluded between the finance ministries of Belarus and Venezuela, on cultural cooperation between the two countries, on cooperation in education and in the fight against crime. Economic entities struck more than dozen of contracts. Belarus and Venezuela will be developing cooperation in construction, extending gas supply networks, mechanical engineering. Over the next two to three years the Belarusians will build three facilities in Venezuela to manufacture tractors, MAZ and BelAZ trucks. The Belarusians were offered to reconstruct the downtown of the Venezuelan capital, to construct a residential area for five thousand apartments, a satellite town near Caracas for 25 thousand residents. Belarusian experts will also develop genera layouts of the cities – capitals of the provinces, will design Venezuela towns. In the future these towns will become the centres to utilise the Belarusian agro-industrial technologies and farm machines. Five agreements to the tune of $3 million were signed in sci-tech sphere. Alexander Lukashenko set out tough deadlines for Belarusian specialists, namely, to implement each of the projects within two-three years. After visiting the oil deposit and after a ceremony of signing the documents the presidents of Belarus and Venezuela took a helicopter trip to see the oil production area in the Anzoategui province, platforms and oil-loading terminals on the seaside. The state delegation headed by the Belarusian President came back to Belarus in the afternoon of December 9.