OREANDA-NEWS. February 19, 2010. Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee met at the Company’s headquarters with Rainer Bruderle, German Minister of Economics and Technology.

The parties discussed the current issues of the Russian-German interaction in the energy sector and, in particular, appreciated the gas production projects in Russia, as well as the activities related to the Nord Stream gas pipeline construction.

The meeting participants were unanimous in their opinion that the mutually-beneficial partnership of Russia and Germany in the energy sector had a substantial potential and would be further developed through, inter alia, participation of Gazprom and German companies in new promising projects embracing the entire production chain – from upstream to downstream.
Background

Russia has cooperated with German gas companies for more than 35 years now. Germany was and remains the world’s largest purchaser of Russian natural gas delivered to Germany by E.ON Ruhrgas, WINGAS and WIEH. In 2009 Gazprom exported 31.6 billion cubic meters of gas to Germany.

Gazprom and large German energy companies, E.ON Ruhrgas AG and Wintershall Holding AG, cooperate within large-scale projects including development of the Yuzhno-Russkoye field and block 1A of the Achimov deposits, Urengoy field, as well as construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

Gazprom is a co-owner of Germany’s gas infrastructure through WINGAS, a joint venture with Wintershall Holding.