A multibillion-dollar bet on building Russian influence in Latin America looks under threat.
Venezuela: A Dead End for Russia?
Russia has a lot to lose if Nicolas Maduro’s government collapses.
In recent years, Russian state-owned Rosneft has ramped up its investment in Venezuela by participating in a multitude of joint ventures with its Venezuelan counterpart PDVSA.
In 2017 alone, total oil production from those projects was estimated to be around 8 million tonnes, or 161,000 barrels per day.
The head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, maintains that his investments in Venezuela are viable.
This may be true in the long term but the current instability in Venezuela is not an encouraging sign for the oil giant.
Many of the oil refineries are in the hands of army officers who lack basic sectoral expertise and qualified workers have been staging mass protests.
(Op-ed)
https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/venezuela-a-dead-end-for-russia-op-ed-64288