Venezuela's Chavez may visit Russia in late July

According to RIA Novosti, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez may pay an official visit to Russia in late July this year, the country's vice president said on June 26. Venezuelan Vice-President Ramon Carrizales is currently on an official visit to MOSCOW and met on Thursday with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov. 'The exact date of the visit has not been confirmed yet, but it may take place at the end of July,' the Venezuelan official said. Zhukov said in turn that Venezuela remains Russia's most important partner in Latin America. The two countries have been prioritizing cooperation in energy and mining. Russian energy giant Gazprom, the country's largest independent oil producer LUKOIL , Russian-British joint oil venture TNK-BP, aluminum giant RusAl and a number of other companies are developing their commercial interests on the Venezuelan market.