MOSCOW, July 2 (RIA Novosti) – A street in northern Moscow was named after late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Tuesday, the same day that Russian majors Rosneft and Gazprombank inked significant deals with national oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela.

The naming ceremony was attended by current Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Rosneft head Igor Sechin. It was announced that day that the Russian state-owned oil firm had signed an agreement to help develop extensive offshore deposits in South America.

Also on Tuesday, Gazprombank, affiliated with Russian energy giant Gazprom, said it had signed a deal with Petroleos de Venezuela to invest $1 billion in their joint venture, PetroSamora.

Speaking at the naming ceremony, Venezuelan President Maduro said Chavez had visited the Russian capital at least 10 times. “He never felt like a stranger in Moscow. I thank you for this gift,” said Maduro, who arrived in Moscow on Monday for a two-day visit.

Chavez, who had ruled the South American nation for 14 years, died on March 5 at the age of 58 after a two-year fight with cancer.

Last week, the acting chairman of the Moscow government’s public affairs committee, Alexander Chistyakov, said that Chavez Street (Ulitsa Chavesa) would be a 170-meter-long square.