These amounts cover only a tenth of Venezuela’s annual wheat demand. The widespread use of the dollar in the Russian financial system means the risk of American sanctions greatly outweighs potential earnings from new Venezuelan business, they said. None of the top 15 Russian banks had meaningful loans to Venezuelan entities as of April, according to their regulatory filings. Even Russian weapons trade with Venezuela, the cornerstone of the countries’ economic relations, has been hit by Mr. Maduro’s financial woes. The company has chosen not to renew some weapons maintenance contracts and freeze other projects, they said.

Source: International New York Times June 18, 2019 03:00 UTC