Venezuela and Russia have signed 13 documents in a two-day business round aimed at consolidating their strategic alliances on economy, trade and energy, local media reported on Wednesday.

The agreements, which were reached during the First Venezuela- Russia Business Round here, would expand trade between the two countries to about 650 million US dollars this year, nearly 10 times the amount of the bilateral trade last year, according to the reports citing government official.

During the business round that closed on Tuesday, Venezuela and Russia signed letters of intention on a variety of projects, including exploitation of petroleum and gas, a calcination plant and Kaolin refining plant, a thermoelectric plant, a battery factory as well as exploration and development of gold mine.

Over 100 Venezuelan and Russian firms presented investment project aimed at developing products and services in steel, aluminum, agroindustry, forestry and automotive sectors.

Venezuelan Basic Industry and Mining Minister Victor Alvarez said that the agreements will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2006, stressing that with the mutually complementary advantages between Venezuela and Russia, the South American country would be able to deepen the endogenous development and expedite the development of productive chains and networks.

The two countries also agreed on increasing the number of Russian tourists to Venezuela from 15,000 to 20,000 within the next two years and creating a more comfortable route for passengers traveling between Caracas and Moscow.

Relations between the two countries have been pushed vigorously by the government of Russian President Vladimir Putin, while Venezuela seeks strategic allies.

The Venezuelan-Russian trade amounted to 67 million dollars last year, according to figures released by Russian Ambassador to Venezuela Mikhail Orlovets.

Source: Xinhua