A Gazprom delegation today paid a visit to the Kyrgyz Republic. Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee held talks with Kurmanbek Bakiev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic and Igor Chudinov, Prime Minister of the Kyrgyz Republic. At a solemn ceremony conducted as part of the visit Gazprom was awarded subsoil use licenses for oil and gas prospects in Kyrgyzstan.

The meetings also addressed the possibilities for Gazprom to participate in the privatization of Kyrgyzstan’s natural gas and oil infrastructure.

The parties expressed their interest in further developing cooperation in the hydrocarbon exploration and production sector as well as in upgrading and utilizing underground gas storage facilities in the Kyrgyz Republic.

Alexey Miller noted: “Gazprom intends to become a strategic investor in the Kyrgyz oil and gas sector and to bring forward a long-term investment program to be targeted at providing the Republic with gas from its own resources”.