OREANDA-NEWS.   Athens hosted today the 30th Meeting of the European Business Congress (EBC) Presiding Committee and the 17th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the EBC. The meetings were moderated by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, President of the EBC.

The Meeting participants heard the report on the 2013 EBC operating results, adopted the financial statement for the corresponding period and got acquainted with the progress reports by the Working Committees' Chairpersons. The next AGM will take place in Belgrade in May 2015.

The Meeting also considered the election of the EBC Board of Executive Directors and Presiding Committee. Alexey Miller was reelected the EBC President. Evgeny Basalay, Director General of RFK Korsa, Valdemaras Vareika, Director general of Achema Group, Jean-Francois Cirelli, President of GDF SUEZ, Wim Groenendijk, Vice President of Gasunie, Christopher Delbrьck, Chief Executive Officer of E.ON Global Commodities, Alessio Mariani, Executive Director of General Electric Oil & Gas in Russia and CIS, Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Michael Ertmann Vice President of DONG Energy became the newly elected EBC Presiding Committee Members.

A conference entitled Gas Motor Fuel for European Environment was held as part of the EBC.

“Our strategic goal lies in diversifying the markets, increasing the reliability of hydrocarbon supply and our operating efficiency. Gazprom is committed to retaining and, if possible, increasing its share in the European market, while at the same time expanding its presence in the Asia-Pacific region.

The NGV segment is among our priority lines of business. At present, natural gas occupies an inadequately small niche in the vehicle fuel market. Our aim is to change that. We consider a unified approach and adequate regulatory measures to be essential for establishing a solid foundation for evolution of the NGV fuel market.

The vehicle manufacturing industry and the gas industry may become natural allies to promote the use of natural gas in the transportation sector. Gazprom already closely cooperates with the key players of this industry. We are sure that wider use of natural gas will partially resolve the most pending issues of the European community, that is, it will provide support to the economic competitive ability and at the same time contribute to environmental protection,” said Alexey Miller in his report at the conference.

In addition, a working meeting took place between Alexey Miller and Yiannis Maniatis, Greek Minister of Environment, Energy, and Climate Change in the frames of the EBC. The parties addressed the issues of cooperation in the gas sector, placing special emphasis on Russian natural gas supplies to Greece.

Background

The European Business Congress (EBC) is an international, non-governmental and non-profit organization. The EBC comprises 138 members from 24 OSCE member states including Gazprom, ExxonMobil, Daimler, Siemens, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Total, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, J. P. Morgan Bank International, Alcatel, Wintershall, E.ON Ruhrgas, GDF SUEZ, ENI, Enel, BNP Paribas, UBS, Royal Boskalis Westminster, The Royal Bank of Scotland, KPMG, Societe Generale, Statoil, MND, MAN Ferrostaal, DONG Energy, Sakhalin Energy, Renaissance Capitan and others.
The supreme body of the Congress is the General Meeting. The 47-member Presiding Committee exercises general management. The EBC President is Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee. The 9-member Board of Executive Directors is responsible for executive management.
The EBC deals with economic cooperation issues in Europe and brings forward proposals for debottlenecking and building a safe and favorable environment for entrepreneurial activities. The EBC operates through seven Working Committees for: Energy; Industry and Construction; Law, Banking and Finance; Information and Communications; Ecology and Healthcare; Human Resources, Education and Science; Business Security.
Gazprom's strategy for the NGV market development is pursued by a special-purpose company – Gazprom Gazomotornoye Toplivo.
Gazprom is represented in the European NGV market by Gazprom Germania, Vemex and Eesti gas. Gazprom Germania owns 23 CNG filling stations that fuel motor vehicles in Germany. Vemex owns 6 CNG filling stations in the Czech Republic. The company also supplies natural gas to 6 CNG filling stations of independent companies. Eesti gas is the owner of 5 CNG filling stations in Estonia.