RF, Vietnam sign documents on developing cooperation in oil & gas.

11/7 Tass 53

MOSCOW, July 11 (Itar-Tass) - Secretary general of the Central
Committee of the Vietnamese Communist Party Nong Duc Manh participated on
Sunday in a signing ceremony of three documents on developing cooperation
in the oil and gas sphere between the Russian Zarubezhneft Company and
Vietnamese PetroVietnam Corporation.
Following the signing of the documents, Nong Duc Manh noted that the
joint enterprise Vietsovpetro, established by the Russian Zarubezhneft
Company and the Vietnamese PetroVietnam Corporation in 1981, "is, as
before, the key producer of oil and gas in Vietnam, recovering 40 recent
of the total oil and gas production in the country.
"It annually contributes 18 percent to the Vietnamese GDP and is
responsible for 25-30 percent of total revenues of the state." He also
emphasised that Vietsovpetro has made a huge contribution to training
personnel in Vietnam and Russia over the 30 years of its operation".
Vietnam "has created the backbone for the entire oil and gas industries
thanks to the operation of this enterprise, and many leaders not only of
the industry, but of the Vietnamese state also came from Vietsovpetro".
According to Nong Duc Manh, Russia and Vietnam do not limit their
cooperation in the oil and gas sphere only to one joint venture, but
"launch cooperation in Russia and third countries". For instance
Rusvietpetro joint venture, set up in July 2008, plans to produce the
first tonne of oil in the third quarter of this year".
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