Translated material
"Brother Dmitry"
Hugo Chavez did not notice Medvedev's quarrel with Lukashenko
The signing of an agreement on the construction of the first nuclear power plant by Russian companies in Venezuela was one of the most important results of Friday's negotiations between President Dmitry Medvedev and his colleague Hugo Chavez. After the meeting between the presidents of Russia and Venezuela, Mr. Medvedev noted that “tectonic changes” had occurred in relations between the two countries. Chavez is coming to our country for the ninth time, thereby clearly showing how close the relations between Moscow and Caracas are. The guarantee that this state of affairs will continue in the future was the action plan signed by the two leaders for the period from 2010 to 2014. But if in the past our states were mainly bound by large contracts for the supply of military equipment, now relations are also sealed by joint energy projects.In particular, an agreement was concluded in Moscow for Rosneft to purchase from the Venezuelan PdVSA its 50 percent stake in the German company Ruhr Oel GmbH. The cost of this transaction was $1.6 billion. The purchase of BP's assets in Venezuela was also agreed upon by TNK-BP. We are talking about shares in two oil projects together with PdVSA and a share in the Petromonagas refinery. These assets are valued at between $850 million and $1 billion.
But the main thing is that Moscow and Caracas agreed that Russian specialists will build a nuclear power plant in Venezuela. Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko said that this project will be completed within ten years. In addition to the construction itself, the Russian side will train personnel for the nuclear industry of the Latin American republic.
Commenting on this deal, Mr. Medvedev said that although someone may “shudder” from it (which is quite natural, given the fiery temperament and political views of Mr. Chavez. - Ed. ), but the intentions of Russia and Venezuela “ absolutely clean and open.” “We want our partner, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, to have the full range of energy capabilities, energy independence and internal mechanisms for self-development. And in this regard, even a country as rich in oil and gas as Venezuela needs new sources of energy,” he explained.
No one has started to “shudder” yet. However, US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley promised that Washington would closely monitor whether Caracas adheres to non-proliferation standards adopted by the IAEA. “Countries have the right to peaceful nuclear energy. It's not a problem. The real problem is how they do it all, but we trust Russia,” Mr Crowley added.
Meanwhile, although the difficult relationship between the United States and Venezuela was not directly addressed during the press conference between Mr. Medvedev and Mr. Chavez, it was alluded to. “Both Russia and Venezuela stand for the formation of a modern and fair world order, a world order in which our future does not depend on the will and desire of any one country, on its well-being, on what its mood is, but depends on common efforts the international community and, of course, from internal development,” said the Russian leader.
He explained how Caracas contributed to “the formation of a just world order.” In July, Venezuela established diplomatic relations with Abkhazia and South Ossetia. This step, according to Mr. Medvedev, will not only help these republics acquire legal personality, but also proved the sincerity of Mr. Chavez himself. “This is exactly how real friends behave: when they promise, they do it, and don’t talk about it,” Mr. Medvedev said, thereby making another attack on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
“Thank you, Dmitry, brother,” responded Hugo Chavez. The Venezuelan leader, famous for his eloquence, retained the emotional mood set by this phrase throughout his entire speech. In it, he quoted Alexander Herzen three times, declared his love for Russia and several more times warmly thanked Mr. Medvedev, Vladimir Putin, Russian ministers and officials for all the good they had done for his homeland.
“These are more than just documents and just protocols, just signatures,” Mr. Chavez said about the concluded contracts. - For example, an agreement in the agricultural sector is Russian investment in Venezuela and trade to import bananas, coffee, cocoa and many other products from Venezuela. This is a big scenario, a geopolitical scenario for Europe and Asia. This is an important step. Dmitry, you know this."
Mr. Chavez was especially delighted by the contract with AvtoVAZ. He said that 20 years ago he had a Niva. “You can’t imagine how I raced around Venezuela in this car, but I only had to change the tires sometimes!” - the president shared his memories. At the same time, Mr. Chavez continued, the Niva costs only 7 thousand dollars, while its analogues produced in the West cost about 20 thousand.
On behalf of all potential buyers of Russian cars, he gave Mr. Medvedev a gift as a sign of gratitude. “Look, I brought Venezuelan chocolate for Dmitry, the best chocolate in the world, let it start going all over Russia, and it will also be cheap, this is the best chocolate in the world. Also banana jam, cocoa powder, also the best in the world,” said Mr. Chavez, handing all the above items to his colleague.
The Venezuelan leader had the opportunity to personally check the quality of the Russian automobile industry on the day the contract was signed. Even before the start of negotiations, he drove around Moscow behind the wheel of a red Lada Priora. The end point of his trip was the square at the intersection of Vernadsky and University avenues, where a monument to Simon Bolivar will appear in a year. Mr. Chavez arrived there to take part in laying the foundation of the monument. Because of this trip, the center of Moscow was stuck in a traffic jam for many hours on Friday.
Having left Moscow on Saturday, from his friend Dmitry, to Minsk, to visit his friend Alexander, the President of Venezuela assured his Belarusian counterpart that Venezuelan oil would be steadily supplied to Belarus. “We are aware that your refineries need oil. Belarusian refineries will not have a shortage of oil for 200 years,” he said. “We are comrades, and together we are building an alternative to imperialism,” noted Hugo Chavez. As a result of negotiations, Venezuela and Belarus signed a contract for the supply of 30 million tons of oil in 2011-2013.