Mr Stepashin, who is visiting Vietnam to sign a joint audit report for the Vietnam oil and gas joint venture Vietsovpetro, said the Russian Audit is ready to cooperate with its Vietnamese counterpart within a multilateral framework and that it supports the country in its bid to host the congress of supreme audit agencies in Asia in 2021.

The Russian Audit president said he is deeply impressed by Vietnam’s development, considering the country as typical of the market economy under state management. He affirmed the role of state management in promoting economic growth, especially in the current context of the global economic crisis.

Mr Stepashin quoted Russian president Dmitry Medvedev as saying that Russia has sufficient economic resources as well as firm determination to implement the agreements signed by Russian and Vietnamese leaders.

For his part, State President Nguyen Minh Triet hailed the visit by Sergei Vadimovich Stepashin as a new milestone in bilateral relations of cooperation between the two countries and affirmed Vietnam always remembers the wholehearted and effective assistance of the people of the former Soviet Union and the current Russian Federation. He also expressed his wish that Russia should play an increasingly important role in Vietnam.

On the same day, the director general of Russia’s OAO Zarubezhneft - Nicolay Grigoriyevich Brunich - presented the director general of PetroVietnam - Tran Ngoc Canh - with a certificate transferring 49 percent of the legal capital of the joint venture Rusvietpetro based in Russia.

Accordingly, the PetroVietnam Group will take part in oil and gas exploration and exploitation in Russia and other countries.

VietNamNet/VOV