30.01.03

Ruhrgas to take part in trilateral talks on international gas transit consortium

Representatives of the German company Ruhrgas have been invited to take part in trilateral talks on the international consortium for managing and developing Ukraine's gas transit networks.

"We have been invited to take part in trilateral negotiations in Kyiv in early February. After that, the conditions [for participation] will be determined and the role of the possible consortium partners will become clearer," an official spokesman for Ruhrgas told.

In Kyiv on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the gas transit consortium has already reached a stage at which Russia and Ukraine are ready to invite Western partners to cooperate.

Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma specified that Germany will be among these partners.

Russia and Ukraine created an international consortium for managing and developing Ukraine's gas transit networks on an equal basis. Naftohaz Ukrainy and Gazprom signed the founding documents in early November 2002. The consortium is registered in Kyiv. At the initial stage, Gazprom and Naftohaz Ukrainy contributed $0.5 million each for the consortium.