Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reiterated his support for a merger between Russian gas giant Gazprom and Ukraine's national energy company Naftogaz Ukrainy, despite Kiev rejecting the idea on numerous occasions, according to remarks posted on a Russian government website late Wednesday.
"I don't think [the merger] is a worthless idea; on the contrary, it should be looked at without emotion," Putin said.
"Of course Naftogaz Ukrainy will be a minority shareholder, but Naftogaz will be represented in a leading world company, for one, and it will have a serious voice that will always be heard in the united company," he said.
"Naftogaz is the largest transit company for our gas to European consumers and therefore, if we are going to grow, they can take part in the overall work, including upstream production," Putin said.
He added that Russia would continue to develop transport options via the Nord Stream and South Stream pipelines, which bypass Ukraine shipping gas to Europe, as well as in Russia's Far East, where it hopes to sign a major deal to supply China, and in the north, where it is considering LNG projects.
Gazprom and Naftogaz signed a memorandum of intent in December to set up a joint venture to produce methane from coal in Ukraine and are also discussing possible joint upstream projects in Russia.
Russia is pushing for an eventual merger of Gazprom and Naftogaz and has said that it sees the creation of a joint venture as the first step in the process. Ukraine, however, has rejected the possibility of a merger, which was first suggested by Putin in April.
Ukraine's pipeline system has a capacity of 142 billion cubic meters/year, with some 105 Bcm of gas forecast to transit through the country in 2010.
--Jake Rudnitsky
"I don't think [the merger] is a worthless idea; on the contrary, it should be looked at without emotion," Putin said.
"Of course Naftogaz Ukrainy will be a minority shareholder, but Naftogaz will be represented in a leading world company, for one, and it will have a serious voice that will always be heard in the united company," he said.
"Naftogaz is the largest transit company for our gas to European consumers and therefore, if we are going to grow, they can take part in the overall work, including upstream production," Putin said.
He added that Russia would continue to develop transport options via the Nord Stream and South Stream pipelines, which bypass Ukraine shipping gas to Europe, as well as in Russia's Far East, where it hopes to sign a major deal to supply China, and in the north, where it is considering LNG projects.
Gazprom and Naftogaz signed a memorandum of intent in December to set up a joint venture to produce methane from coal in Ukraine and are also discussing possible joint upstream projects in Russia.
Russia is pushing for an eventual merger of Gazprom and Naftogaz and has said that it sees the creation of a joint venture as the first step in the process. Ukraine, however, has rejected the possibility of a merger, which was first suggested by Putin in April.
Ukraine's pipeline system has a capacity of 142 billion cubic meters/year, with some 105 Bcm of gas forecast to transit through the country in 2010.
--Jake Rudnitsky
