Today in Berlin Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee, Gazprom and Klaus-Ewald Holst, Chairman of the Executive Board, Verbundnetz Gas AG signed an Agreement to set up a consortium as part of the joint venture (JV) creation project for dealing with natural gas storage, particularly, for constructing a gas storage near Bernburg (Katharina UGS facility).

Pursuant to the document, Project and Supervisory Committees will be established to exert control over the project implementation.

The Final Investment Decision on the project is to be adopted before late 2009.

Upon attainment of the nominal capacity in 2022, the UGS active volume will exceed 597 million cubic meters.

Background:

Established in 1969, Verbundnetz Gas AG (VNG AG) (Leipzig) is a supplier of gas to Germany’s eastern federal lands and Berlin. VNG core business activities involve natural gas import, supply to consumers as well as underground storage.

At present, the company’s shareholders are as follows: EWE – 47.9 per cent, Wintershall Holding AG – 15.79 per cent plus one share, VNG Verwaltungs und Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH – 25.79 per cent minus one share, EEG – 5.26 per cent, Gazprom – 5.26 per cent.

In May 2007 Gazprom and VNG signed the Memorandum of Intent aimed at creating a joint venture responsible for natural gas storage.

In April 2008 the companies inked the Agreement of Cooperation in the underground gas storage sector, according to which they would construct a gas storage company that would operate a new UGS facility near Bernburg (Saxonia-Anhalt, Germany). Later on this facility was named Katharina.