Support The Moscow Times!

Medvedev Oversees Agreements on Space and Oil Cooperation During Vietnam Trip

Medvedev posing under late Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh’s statue.

Agreements on oil and space signed between Russia and Vietnam during President Dmitry Medvedev's ongoing visit to Hanoi mean closer cooperation between the two counties.

Vladimir Popovkin, head of the Federal Space Agency, and Nguyen Tan Dung, science and technology minister of Vietnam, signed an intergovernmental agreement on space cooperation on Tuesday in the areas of research and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, Russia's space agency said in a statement.

"This will give an impulse to cooperate in the areas of remote sensing, satellite navigations and communications, space medical science and biology," the statement said.

A separate agreement has been reached to create favorable conditions for investment and development of natural resources off continental shelves, Investkafe said Wednesday.

According to the analytical agency, Russia will give Vietnamese oil and gas companies access to Russian offshore fields, while Vietnam will invest in joint projects.

One such successful joint venture — Gazpromviet — already exists between PetroVietnam and Gazprom. Gazpromviet has recently received a license to develop the Severo-Purovskoye gas field on the Yamal Peninsula.

In the long run, the agreement would allow both countries to increase their production of hydrocarbons, bringing Russia's oil and gas companies to Vietnam and closer to Asia-Pacific markets.

Related articles:

Read more