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The meeting discussed Gazprom’s current activities on the domestic and foreign markets.

The company currently exports a total of 151 billion cubic metres of gas. Most of this gas goes to the European market and a large share of Gazprom’s infrastructure projects aim to create additional supply routes for delivering gas to Europe.

Work is going ahead successfully on construction of the North European Gas Pipeline (NEPG). The land-based section of the pipeline is currently being laid and work will begin on laying the undersea section of the pipeline in 2008. The NEPG is expected to begin operation in the second half of 2010. Work is going ahead strictly according to schedule and there is no doubt that the project will be completed within the planned deadline, Mr Miller said. Mr Putin asked Mr Miller to examine the possibility of building a branch pipeline from the NEPG to deliver gas to Kaliningrad Region.

Mr Miller informed the President on a project to lay a new pipeline, Blue Stream 2, to deliver gas to southern markets. The project proposes sending the gas in transit via Turkey to markets in Greece, Italy, and perhaps also Israel. Possibilities are also being examined for delivering gas to Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria. The feasibility studies for the pipeline project will be carried out by a consortium made up of Gazprom and Hungarian oil and gas company MOL, and will be completed by the end of 2006.

Gazprom is continuing implementation of its programme to connect the Russian regions to the gas supply and will spend 35 billion roubles on this programme over the coming three years, Mr Miller said.