OREANDA-NEWS. Today in Hannover (Germany) a working meeting took place between Viktor Zubkov, Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors and Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Volkswagen Board of Management as part of the Hannover Industrial Fair.

The parties discussed the cooperation in the area of natural gas supplies for the German team participating in a unique racing series for gas-powered cars.

Based on the meeting results, Vyacheslav Krupenkov, Senior Managing Director of Gazprom Germania and Ulrich Hackenberg signed in the presence of Viktor Zubkov an Agreement providing for Gazprom Germania on behalf of Gazprom Group to become an exclusive supplier of NGV fuel to Volkswagen Motorsport starting from May 2013.)

“We warmly welcome Gazprom as a new partner of Scirocco R-Cup. Volkswagen has always prioritized environmentally clean and energy efficient motorsport. As part of this partnership, two major players of the gas market have united their efforts. Volkswagen succeeded in making gas-powered cars. I am happy about the future cooperation,” said Ulrich Hackenberg.

“NGV fuel has a high potential of utilization that will allow using motor vehicles in an environmentally friendly and cost efficient way. Gazprom views this line of business covering, inter alia, foreign markets as a priority growth area. In this context, the Agreement with Volkswagen is a natural follow-up to our mission on expanding the use of NGV fuel in Europe. I am confident that our cooperation will be a success,” said Viktor Zubkov.


Gazprom to become new partner of Scirocco R-Cup, world’s unique racing series for gas-powered cars. Photo by Volkswagen Motorsport official website (www.volkswagen-motorsport.com)

Background

Volkswagen is a leading car making company in Europe and worldwide. In 2012 the company's share of the global car market climbed to 12.8 per cent. In Western Europe almost one-fourth (24.4 per cent) of all passenger cars are produced by the Volkswagen Group.

Volkswagen manufactures 6 production car models of different classes, all gas-powered: Caddy 2.0 EcoFuel, Caddy Maxi EcoFuel 2,0, Touran 1.4 TSI EcoFuel, Passat and Passat Variant 1.4 TSI EcoFuel, as well as a new model – eco up! Thus, the company's gas-powered vehicle fleet is one of the largest in the world.

Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup is a unique one-make racing series powered by natural gas, thus turning a concept of eco-friendly motor sport into reality.

Volkswagen Scirocco R-Cup is a well-known motorsport series in the world. 25 racers, including talented juniors and motorsport legends, take part in the championship. The 2013 season features 9 races.

Gazprom considers the NGV market as a promising area of the Company's activities targeted at increasing the economic efficiency of Russian gas sales abroad, primarily in Europe.

Nowadays, Gazprom Germania and Vemex (both the Company's subsidiaries) represent Gazprom Group on the European NGV market.

In 2012 the number of CNG filling stations owned by Gazprom Germania increased from 2 to 6. These stations fill motor vehicles with compressed natural gas (CNG) in Germany. By 2015 it is planned to increase the number of the company-owned stations to 15 due to the construction of new CNG filling stations.

Vemex owns 6 CNG filling stations in the Czech Republic, 4 of those were acquired in 2012. In addition, gas was delivered to 2 CNG filling stations owned by other companies. Vemex also expects to bring the number of stations up to 15 by 2015.