OREANDA-NEWS. November 12, 2010. A delegation from Venezuela headed by the deputy minister of science, technologies and medium industry Karloc Faria visited Byelorussian Steel Works. The main aim of this visit of the South-American guests was discussion of directions of further mutually advantageous cooperation, reported the press-centre of BMZ.

We would like to remind that in the current year the plant delivered to PDVSA, a state-owned gas and oil company, 5.6 thousand tons of pipes. Pipe product of our plant is a feedstock for the Venezuelan company used for further threading and heat-treatment. Lately cooperation between BMZ and Venezuela has got a continuation. At the end of September the plant was delivered the first shipment of HBI to be used in steel melting. The amount of this raw material shipment was 5 thousand tons.

This was the second visit of the deputy minister of science, technologies and medium industry of Venezuela Karloc Faria to Belarus. "I have got one more chance to meet people of such a friendly country as Belarus. Our cooperation with BMZ started this year. First of all, this is a continuation of friendly relations between the presidents of our countries Hugo Chavez and Aleksandr Lukashenko. As you know, Venezuela is a country having large deposits of oil and we need your pipes. That is why we aim at establishing close relations with your enterprise".

Before the discussion of the ways of further cooperation the delegates from the South-American country visited the main shops of the enterprise. They paid special attention to the pipe mill where the guests got interested in the organization of the facility operation. At the round-table discussion they underlined BMZ intention to produce advanced technology products of the required quality and range. The questions our guests asked at the meeting concerned the activity of the plant in the area of production, finance, economics, quality, environment, labour protection, social responsibility, etc.

As the director of PDVSA Guillermo Arellano said "We came to study the possibility of a closer cooperation with BMZ — both short-term and medium-term. Venezuela purchases pipe products from the plant and started to supply raw material to the plant. Previously our relations had a spot character. Now we want to extend it".