OREANDA-NEWS. September 08, 2015. Vladivostok hosted a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Rainer Seele, Chairman of the OMV Executive Board as part of the Eastern Economic Forum.

The meeting addressed the outlooks for further cooperation in the gas sector. In particular, the parties discussed the joint construction of new gas transmission infrastructure as well as possible interaction in gas production.

“OMV is not just Gazprom’s key partner in Austria, it is one of our strategic partners in Europe. We are bound by over 40 years of fruitful cooperation and we are committed to broadening it. The Nord Stream II project is underway. An Asset Swap Agreement was signed. It considerably strengthens the companies’ positions at all the stages of the production chain and increases the energy security of European consumers,” said Alexey Miller at the end of the meeting.

Background

OMV is a major partner of Gazprom in Austria.

On June 18 Gazprom and OMV signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding encompassing future long-term business projects, the asset swap deals inclusive.

On September 4, 2015 Gazprom, E.ON, Shell, OMV, BASF and ENGIE signed a Shareholders Agreement to construct the Nord Stream II gas pipeline with an aggregate annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea.

On September 4, 2015 Gazprom and OMV inked the Asset Swap Agreement. Subject to the swap deal, OMV will acquire a 24.98 per cent stake in the project for developing Blocks 4A and 5A of the Achimov deposits at the Urengoy oil, gas and condensate field in exchange for Gazprom’s participating interest in OMV.