Business news

MINSK, 9 October (BelTA) - Belarus is interested in increasing oil production in Venezuela to 2-3 million tonnes per year, Belarus’ Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Semashko said in an interview to the Belarus One TV channel, BelTA informs.

Venezuela is rich in oil. “They however feel somehow spendthrift about oil production. Once production volumes dwindle, they exploit another site. But a lot of oil remains undeveloped,” said Vladimir Semashko. "We revived the wells and were producing about 1.2 million tonnes of oil some three or four years ago. Unfortunately, now we have lower volumes. We will have about 830.000-840.000 tonnes," he added.

Belarus is interested in expanding projects in the field of oil production in Venezuela, the vice premier stressed. “We are ready to increase the volumes up to 2-3 million tonnes per year on these used wells, but with respect to our interests,” he said. “At the same time, we are interested in developing new oil deposits ourselves. On the other hand, we are ready to provide oil possible help to Venezuela,” he added.

Another promising area of ​​cooperation is agriculture. Venezuela’s annual food imports equal $10 billion. Belarus can supply its agricultural products and also share technologies. Vladimir Semashko cited an example of a pilot project to construct an agro-town in Venezuela. “I am convinced that this will be a successful project. Then we will have 3-5 more projects. Sites have already been determined for the construction of large agricultural enterprises to help address the issue of Venezuela’s food security,” he said.

Belarus hopes for further participation in the Venezuelan housing construction program.