Chavez Visit to Land Social Housing Deal

Chavez begins nuclear power, olive oil foreign tour

* Venezuelan leader begins seven-nation tour

* To talk nuclear power, weapons and banks in Russia

* Trip to Middle East takes in Iran, Syria and Libya

By Frank Jack Daniel

CARACAS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Venezuela's socialist President Hugo Chavez on Wednesday set off on a tour of friendly nations including Russia, Iran and Libya with a shopping list ranging from nuclear power and tanks to olive oil.

Chavez is a fervent opponent of U.S. foreign power and sees many of the countries on his itinerary as sharing his goal of lessening Washington's dominance in world affairs.

The first stop on the 10-day trip will be Moscow, where an agreement to develop nuclear energy, the purchase of Russian tanks and a bi-national bank are all on the agenda.

"We are still working on the nuclear energy issue with Russia," Chavez said on the steps of the Miraflores presidential palace before departing. "We are already elaborating projects for the first thermo-nuclear plant in Venezuela."

He emphasized that Venezuela's interest in nuclear power was for peaceful purposes, aimed at reducing a dependence on oil for electricity production. In 2008 Russia's state-run atomic energy company Rosatom signed a deal to sell Venezuela the technology and know-how to build a reactor.

Chavez, who has become one of the world's best known and most controversial leaders, also will take in another U.S. foe, Iran, as well as Syria and Libya in the Middle East.

He will hope to shore his international backing in the face of growing criticism from conservative politicians and commentators in the United States and Europe who accuse him of supporting terrorist groups, including Basque separatists ETA.

Chavez denies supporting any terror groups.

Fresh from legislative elections that reduced his socialist party's majority and bolstered the opposition, Chavez will seek to burnish his image among supporters as a statesman striking alliances that benefit Venezuela's interests.

In Europe, Chavez will visit Ukraine and Belarus, both of which now receive shipments of Venezuelan oil, as well as Portugal.

Earlier this year, Venezuela signed an agreement with Damascus to import olive oil. The two countries also have a long-delayed plan to build a refinery in Syria.

"We are going back to Syria to adjust our agreements in trade, the economy and energy," Chavez said. "We are already bringing over olive oil and we are creating a joint venture."

Venezuela hopes to export products such as bananas and chocolate to its allies.

In the past three years Chavez has bought at least $5 billion in weapons including fighter jets, anti-aircraft missile systems and tanks from Russia. Moscow, which is seeking to export atomic energy expertise, defends its deals with Venezuela, which is a signatory of nonproliferation treaties.

Experts say it will likely take about a decade for any nuclear energy to be produced in the South American country.

Some politicians in the United States and Europe are concerned about Chavez's nascent atomic program, his weapons purchases and close ties to Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , who he has helped duck economic sanctions for Tehran's own nuclear program.

Chavez scoffs at such worries, saying Iran is only seeking nuclear power for civil purposes. Chavez defends his right to trade with its ally, which sells tractors and cars to Venezuela and builds housing and dairies. (Additional reporting by Marianna Parraga; Editing by Bill Trott)

14.10.2010, 03.55

ULYANOVSK, October 14 (Itar-Tass) - German President Christian Wulff will visit Ulyanovsk on Thursday within the framework of his state visit to Russia.

The press service of the regional government told Itar-Tass that the two-day stay of the German president in Ulyanovsk includes a meeting with governor of the Ulyanovsk region Sergei Morozov and students of the Russian-German department of Ulyanovsk State University, visiting an exhibition of Russian-German joint projects and a meeting with representatives of the Ulyanovsk regional German cultural autonomy.

Christian Wulff is expected to be given the title of Honorary Professor of Ulyanovsk State University. The president will also visit the regional training-technical Bosch created on the base of one of the best vocational schools of the region. Advanced construction technology is taught here to students using modern methods. Wulff will visit the centre’ s joinery and welding shops and speak to the students.

The German Language Week underway these days in the Ulyanovsk region is timed to the German president’s visit. Book exhibitions devoted to the German National Unity Day opened in the regional schools. A competition of literary translations of German fairytales is also held. The regional roundtable “Dialogue of Cultures” will be held in Ulyanovsk on Thursday and a Youth Forum devoted to Germany’s unification will be opened at the regional library.

Christian Wulff will also meet the leadership of the haemodialysis centre of the joint-stock company Branch of Fresenius NephroCare Ulyanovsk that is engaged in the treatment of people with failed kidneys. It is the first specialised dialysis centre in Russia built under the project and with support of the world-known German firm Fresenius.

Germans live on the banks of the Volga River for nearly 250 years. The first re-settlers from Germany came to the Volga at the invitation of Catherine the Great in 1764 and occupied empty lands near Saratov. Here they founded cities and settlements. The population was speaking German, there were German schools, institutes and newspapers there. In 1913, there were 600,000 Germans living in the Volga region.

Germany can be rightfully called one of the largest investors in the economy of the Ulyanovsk region and one of the largest trade and cultural partners. The region’s trade turnover with Germany annually grows by 30 percent on the average. During the Year of Germany in the Ulyanovsk region in 2009, more than 50 various events were held in the sphere of education, culture and the economy. In September 2010, Ulyanovsk hosted a major forum entitled “Russia – Russian Germans – Germany” in which delegations of Russian Germans from more than 20 regions of the country took part.