Russia extends a helping hand to Venezuela amidst its debt crisis.

The Russian Finance Ministry announced that an agreement was signed on November 15 in Moscow, under which Venezuela is expected to pay Russia $3.15 billion over 10 years.

A gas station belonging to Venezuela's state-owned energy company PDVSA in the capital Caracas. Photo: Reuters

According to AP, this move comes just one day after Venezelua held a meeting with foreign investors to discuss its debt restructuring strategy.

Russia says the agreement between the two countries will allow Venezuela to allocate more financial resources to economic development.

In addition, the aforementioned $3.15 billion will be paid out "at least" over the first six years.

This could be seen as an act of assistance from Russia to Venezuela, as the South American nation is in debt and needs some time to "breathe" and recover.

However, the agreement does not cover the responsibilities of the state-owned energy company Petroleos de Venezuela SA towards the Russian state-owned company Rosneft, according toBloomberg.

"The terms are very flexible and favorable to our country. We will be able to re-establish trade relations with Russia at the previous level," said Wilmar Castro Soteldo, Venezuela's vice president for economic affairs.

This is the second time Russia has restructured Venezuela's debt after agreeing to an extension last year. However, Venezuela has been unable to repay the debt due to the economic crisis amid the negative impact of low oil prices, while oil exports account for a disproportionately large share of the country's exports.

Russia's Rosneft corporation has also provided billions of dollars in advance payments to Venezuelan oil suppliers.

According to tuoitre.vn