MOSCOW- RUSSIA and Vietnam on Monday signed oil and gas deals after trade talks in Moscow between the countries' presidents, as part of a broader effort by Russia to regain Soviet-era influence in the region.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev hailed growing economic ties between the two countries and said he hoped trade could grow almost seven-fold to US$10 billion (S$15.12 billion) in the coming years.

'We secured important agreements in a number of spheres... above all in fuel and energy,' Mr Medvedev said at a joint Kremlin press conference with Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Minh Triet after the trade talks.

Among the deals signed was an agreement between Russian state energy companies Gazprom and Zarubezhneftegaz and Vietnamese company Petrovietnam to develop energy fields off the coast of Vietnam.

The companies also formed a new energy joint venture, Gazpromviet.

In addition, Russian aluminium producer Rusal signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnamese company An Vien to build an alumina refinery in South Vietnam with a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes per year.

While trade between Russia and Vietnam has grown in recent years, Russia's clout in the Southeast Asian country is still a shadow of Soviet-era levels.

Russian trade turnover with Vietnam was set to reach US$1.5 billion in 2007, Medvedev said, a figure dwarfed by the annual trade turnover between Vietnam and the United States of over US$10 billion. -- AFP