BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

18/10/2010

Venezuelan oil agreement with Belarus estimated at USD 19.4 billion

The South American country also signed housing and transportation agreements

The Venezuelan government inked several agreements with Belarus, as part of President Hugo Chavez's international tour.

Under one of the main agreements, Venezuela will supply Belarus with 30 million tons of oil in three years from 2011.

Although no details of the deal were disclosed, state statistics known by Reuters show that Belarus is currently buying Venezuelan crude at USD 647 per metric ton, pricing 30 million tons at about USD 19.4 billion.

Meanwhile, Chavez advocated the sale of state-run oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) stake in German refinery Ruhr Oel GmbH to Russia's state-owned oil major Rosneft. The Venezuelan president argued that the company "did not refine Venezuelan oil; it did not employ Venezuelan workers and it did not report any earnings to Venezuela. All the money remained in Germany. We did not operate it. Everything was in British hands."

"We finally found a Russian company and we sold (the stake): I took a load off my shoulders." Chavez said that it was a strategic success. "We moved from Germany to Belarus." Thanks to the partnership, Venezuela will be able to build a refinery in this former Soviet republic. The president added that he will have Belarus' support to "overcome the housing deficit" in Venezuela.

Chavez also visited a poultry farm in Dzarzhynsk.

Source:

http://english.eluniversal.com/2010/10/18/en_pol_esp_venezuelan-oil-agree_18A4622211.shtml