Petro Coin Might Be Used In Auto Parts Trade Deal Between Russia And Venezuela

The governments Venezuela and Russia are reportedly holding talks about a potential trade deal for auto parts in for which the payment will be made through the recently launched Petro coin.

Ministers from the two countries have reportedly been meeting to discuss the bilateral transactions and the use of the Petro cryptocurrency as payment. The meetings which have been taking place in Caracas have also been involving trade partnerships between the two countries. The new talks particularly focus on Venezuela’s plan to set up assembly for the Russian Kamaz trucks.

Russia and Venezuela have been working on boosting their trade volume by roughly 30 percent before the end of 2018 through various strategic projects that are currently in the pipeline. This includes the energy partnerships between Petroleos de Venezuela and Rosneft. The new partnership involving the automotive parts will involve the supply of components such as batteries, tires, and spare parts among other things. The growing partnership between the two countries will be highly advantageous despite the intensifying sanctions imposed on both countries by the western nations.

Just a month ago, U.S President Donald Trump imposed a ban on the use of Petro coin by American citizens. There have also been reports that Russia played a role in the deployment of the Petro cryptocurrency although Moscow officials have denied the claims. Meanwhile, Russia is believed to be interested in the South American country particularly because Venezuela it is rich in terms of natural resources, thus the desire for more trade between the two.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro launched the Petro coin about two months ago. Government authorities claim that the pre-sale of the coin managed to raise roughly $735 million. There is also a report that Petro has attracted over 200,000 orders within the 30-day period and those orders have come from 133 countries. Despite this claim, the cryptocurrency has attracted some negative reviews with some cryptocurrency rating websites calling it a scam.