Colombia Seeks Russian Investments

Speaking at a business forum in Cartagena Colombian president Alvaro Uribe announced that Colombia is very interested in developing overall trade and economic ties with Russia. Colombian President specifically pointed out that oil and power sectors of the Colombian economy are seen as the most promising in terms of Russian investment, because of the expertise that is possessed by Russian companies in these areas.

And, not surprising:

Meanwhile some Russian companies express a lot of pessimism about prospects of working in Colombia. Rosneft oil company which developed the Surroriente oil field in Colombia in cooperation with local companies Petrotesting Colombia and Holsan Chemicals decided to quit the project. Dmitry Pontileev from Rosneft�s press service told MosNews that the company is exiting oil projects in Colombia �due to political risks [that can affect] safety of the personnel�. He declined to comment on the possible actions of other Russian companies that may decide to invest in Colombia, but said that Rosneft �deems its exit [from Colombia] necessary�.

Indeed, Colombia’s diminishing production is because of violence and inability to protect pipelines rather than a lack of petroleum in the ground.