Venezuela is currently in talks with Russia on the purchase of 50 aircraft, a source in the Russian delegation in Caracas said on Friday.
"They are negotiating the delivery of An-148 and Be-200 airplanes," the source said, referring to passenger/cargo and a multipurpose amphibious aircraft, respectively.
He added that the contract was discussed at a meeting during a high-level intergovernmental Russian-Venezuelan commission on March 31 in Caracas.
Venezuelan civil defense service chief Luis Diaz said his country needed Be-200 amphibious aircraft to fight devastating forest fires.
On Thursday, a Be-200 made a demonstration flight in Venezuela, extinguishing a forest fire. It had flown to Venezuela from Chile, where it had taken part in the International Air and Space Fair - FIDAE 2010 on March 23-28.
Severe drought hit the Latin American state this year, resulting in a large number of huge forest fires. Last month, blazes destroyed more than 200 hectares of forest in the Waraira Repano National Park near the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.
CARACAS, April 2 (RIA Novosti)
