The European office of the national oil company of Venezuela, PDVSA, was transferred from Lisbon (Portugal) to Moscow (Russia), a body official announced Wednesday.
The new office was registered in Russia on August 6 and is already functioning, the head of the office, Andrei Grichayev, told the Russian press agency RIA. “We started work,” he added.
According to the registration data, the office will be located on Arbat Street, a busy pedestrian street in the center of Moscow.
The staff of this office will be reduced to “about half” in relation to the old one, Venezuelan oil minister Manuel Quevedo told the Russian press agencies Wednesday from Abu Dhabi, where he is participating in a congress.
PDVSA, vital for the Venezuelan economy, in full crisis, is subject to US sanctions. The Venezuelan government announced in March that PDVSA’s European office would be moved from Lisbon to Moscow, a measure that according to Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez seeks to help safeguard their country’s assets.
In explaining the decision to move the PDVSA office, Rodriguez said at the time that Europe has shown that it can no longer guarantee the security of Venezuela’s assets.
Russia is one of the few international supporters of the Venezuelan government, who is currently immersed in a deep political and economic crisis.
