Russia, Venezuela to hold intergovernmental commission meeting in March
CARACAS. Jan 31 (Interfax) - The Russian-Venezuelan intergovernmental commission will hold a meeting in Caracas in March, Venezuelan Vice President Nicolas Maduro said after a meeting with Rosneft president Igor Sechin, who heads the Russian business delegation.
Sechin confirmed that "at the request of the Venezuelan side we have begun preparations to hold an intergovernmental commission meeting at the end of March."
Sechin gave Maduro a letter from President Vladimir Putin for Hugo Chavez in which he expresses the hope that the Venezuelan president will soon recover and that cooperation between the two countries will continue.
Sechin also said that thanks to the involvement of Russian companies in Venezuelan oil and gas projects Russia has gained the opportunity to diversify activities in the South American country and reach agreements in the area of agriculture, equipment production, education and science.
"We have expanded work in the oil and gas sector, agreed on the delivery of drilling rigs with the creation of assembly. New projects have emerged for us in electricity and hydropower," Sechin said.
