Why Venezuela might become a burden for the Kremlin

Emil Dabagyan, a senior fellow at the Institute of Latin America at the Russian Academy of Sciences, compares Venezuela’s economy with the sinking of the Titanic. According to him, the country needs sweeping reforms and a new economic model. The task is monumental for Venezuela - it has “to decrease pressure on business,” encourage small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, alleviate the dominance of the state in the economy and restore the dialogue with the opposition.    Russia’s business interests might be affected not only by the incompetence of the Venezuelan authorities, but also by the trial initiated by U.S. company ConocoPhillips against Rosneft Trading S.A., a Swiss company that belongs to Russia’s biggest oil giant, Rosneft. The company was accused of fraudulent transfer of assets owned by Venezuela’s state-run company Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA).More…