OREANDA-NEWS. January 16, 2009. Gazprom’s Headquarters has hosted today a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee and Jeroen van der Veer, Chief Executive Officer of Royal Dutch Shell.

The meting participants addressed the issues surrounding bilateral interaction as part of the agreements concluded earlier as well as the prospects for deeper cooperation in gas extraction and LNG production, including the possibility of jointly developing fields in third countries.

Particular attention was paid to the critical situation arisen in the European energy market because of Ukraine’s refusal to transit Russian gas to Europe.

Alexey Miller informed Jeroen van der Veer of the steps taken by Gazprom for promptly resuming gas transit via Ukraine. It was emphasized that the current unprecedented situation required developing mechanisms aimed at preventing the blockade on the part of transit states in the future.

At the end of the meeting Jeroen Van der Veer visited Gazprom’s Central Production and Dispatch Department (CPDD) where on an electronic map of gas transport routes he could clearly see that Ukraine was blocking the transit of Russian gas to Europe.

“It has been very interesting for me to see Gazprom’s gas flow control center. It is obvious that the Russian side is ready to supply gas. We have seen it all, and I have personally made sure of it,” he stated when visiting CPDD.