The illegal proposal (PNL) that the PP presented to Congress, with the support of the PNV, Vox, UPN and the Canarian Coalition, to urge the government to recognize Venezuelan opponent Edmundo González as the winner of the Venezuelan elections, has caused Caracas to threaten to break off economic relations with our country. This means putting at risk a actions Spanish investment in the Bolivarian Republic of 508 million euros, according to ICEX data.
According to the entity’s data, a total of 60 multinationals from different sectors They operate in the South American country, among which Repsol or Inditex stand out, the latter operating under franchise; Telefónica, which relaunched its investments in 2022, BBVA, Air Europa, Iberia, Hesperia and Meliá.
In the ICEX economic and commercial report, updated in May of this year, it is highlighted that Spain was Venezuela’s third client in terms of exports, occupying a share of 11% of the country’s foreign tradeon a par with China, and only surpassed by the United States, which recorded a 60% market share in 2023.
But it must be taken into account that the country led by Nicolás Maduro has stopped publishing most macroeconomic figures since 2018, which is why “we must resort to indirect sources of information,” warns the ICEX. In this case, at MAP ITC, which shows real information on the behavior of foreign trade.
Thus, according to the figures presented by this company, in terms of imports, Spain had a 1% share in the country last year. This means that our country is not among the main suppliers. This place is occupied by China, with a 40% share of the total imported; the United States (29%) and Brazil (13%). Next come Mexico, Turkey, Spain and Mexico, with negligible percentages.
By products, oil occupies a share of 88.6%, being the main material that Spain buys from Venezuela. Next come more residual products such as shrimp (5.5%), semi-finished aluminum products (2%), rum (1.2%) and cast iron products (0.9%).
The organization explains that in 2022 and 2023, Venezuela ranked 98th as an export destination country and 70th as a major supplier. with a coverage rate of 24%But the body dependent on the Ministry of Economy, Commerce and Business warns that this coverage rate is “extremely volatile”, because it depends mainly on the amount of oil imports made by Repsol.
In fact, imports have grown since their low of 63 million euros in 2021. Since 2022, imports have increased to 619 million thanks to Repsol freight rates.
This significant increase is due to the fact that the oil company reached an agreement on April 17 by which Petróleos de Venezuela He gave him the wells of Tomoporo and La Ceiba to be able to meet the existing debt of 2023. An agreement which is valued at 1,590 million.
