The Gazprom headquarters hosted today the Press Conference entitled “Gas Export and Enhancing Reliability of Gas Supply to Europe” on the threshold of the annual General Shareholders Meeting. Taking part in the Conference were Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Director General of Gazprom Export and Pavel Oderov, Head of the International Business Department of Gazprom.

It was highlighted at the Conference that reliable and uninterrupted gas export was Gazprom's top priority in its international business. Gazprom is willing to fully discharge its export obligations under long-term contracts as well as to commit extra supplies beyond the country, if necessary. For instance, with a view to support its foreign partners during the severely cold winter this year, the Company has raised its gas supplies to the maximum level for Europe as well as for the CIS countries, particularly Belarus and Ukraine, and at the same time increased withdrawal of the “blue fuel” from underground gas storage  facilities.

Gazprom is engaged in large-scale infrastructure projects to improve the reliability of gas supplies to Europe. They will make it possible to diversify the supply routes and directly link Russia's largest gas fields with European consumers. These projects are Nord Stream and South Stream.

Implementation of joint Russian-European projects on building gas trunkline systems is a crucial element of the new design of the European energy safety. It is the only way of securing uninterrupted gas supplies to Europeans irrespective of a political situation or economic hardships in transit countries.

However, the efforts on securing the reliability of gas transmission and energy safety maintenance in Europe are obstructed by the new rules for regulating the European Union energy space – provisions of the Third Energy Package. Delivery of infrastructure projects, such as South Stream, in the EU, with no release from the restrictive measures of the Third Energy Package, imposes, in addition to obligations on providing third parties with non-discriminatory access to gas transmission capacities and rendering gas transmission services with tariffs set by independent regulatory bodies, the prohibition to own the gas transmission infrastructure in some cases.

Aiming to provide the opportunity of implementing large-scale infrastructure projects in the EU, the Russian party filed a draft Agreement on cross-border infrastructure in order to define the legal status of gas export pipelines connecting Russia and the EU.

This international agreement will also eliminate the legal uncertainty and conflicts of law by establishing the unified legal regime for cross-border projects covering different legal systems. It will also help avoid possible disruption of bilateral investment agreements between the EU countries and Russia as well as the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between Russia and the EU followed by application of the new energy legislation of the EU to the existing gas export pipelines or those under construction.

Gazprom is ready for cooperation and calls for formulation of mutually acceptable energy cooperation rules that would properly reflect the specific nature of cross-border relations among equal states of international law with different political and legal systems.

Europeremains a traditional client of Gazprom. In 2012 the Company forecasts to gain USD 61 billion of profit from gas export beyond the FSU. In 2012 gas export beyond the FSU is expected to reach the 2011 level according to the basic scenario. The physical export volume will total at least 222 billion cubic meters in 2012. According to forecasts, gas export beyond the FSU may reach 180 billion cubic meters by 2030.

The expected export gain made up USD 25.5 billion between January and May 2012.