Russia discusses debt, energy stability with Venezuela

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak met with Venezuela’s oil minister in Caracas, where they discussed oil market volatility and the status of Venezuela’s outstanding debt to Russia.

Novak, who also oversees Moscow’s relations with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), was visiting Moscow as part of a regularly scheduled intergovernmental commission, a Novak spokesman said earlier.

“We emphasize the importance of continuing to work together to stabilize the international energy market within the framework of OPEC+ and the Forum of Gas Exporting Countries,” Novak said through a translator in a radio speech after his meeting with Venezuela’s Oil Minister Tareck El Aissami.

“Oil and gas producing countries are the solid cornerstone of our trade and financial cooperation, which continues to demonstrate resilience despite sanctions and pressure on Russia and Venezuela,” Novak said.

Moscow is negotiating debt restructuring with Venezuela, the Russian agency Interfax said on Wednesday, citing an official at the Russian Ministry of Finance. The possible launch of Russia’s Mir card payment system in Venezuela has also been discussed, Tass news agency said.

The Mir card is accepted in Cuba, South Korea, Turkey, Vietnam and a handful of former Soviet republics.

Venezuela owes billions of dollars to China and Russia from loans made under the late President Hugo Chávez. US sanctions against the South American country and an acute economic crisis under President Nicolas Maduro have made loan repayments, payments to bondholders and other creditors more difficult.

The two countries signed a total of 11 agreements covering everything from the supply of medicines to oil well services, Venezuela’s oil ministry said in a statement.

Venezuela has the world’s largest crude oil reserves and is a member of the OPEC group of leading global oil producers. Maduro is an ally of Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin.

Europe has imposed an embargo on buying Russian oil at sea from this month, seeking to cripple Moscow’s military efforts in Ukraine. The United States imposed its own ban on oil from Russia in March, while Moscow has increased energy supplies – a major source of revenue for its treasury – to Asia.

Venezuela has been under US oil trade sanctions since 2019, but in November the US Treasury Department granted Chevron a license to expand operations in Venezuela, part of Washington’s effort to encourage talks between Maduro and the opposition with a view to a 2023 election.