Kazakh Prime Minister took part in gas summit in Moscow

MOSCOW. January 18. KAZINFORM. /Arnur Rakhymbekov/ Yesterday Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov arrived with a working visit in Moscow to take part in an international conference of the heads of the states and governments on the issues of Russian gas transit to Europe convened by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Kazakh Premier was accompanied by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Kazakhstan to the Russian Federation Adilbek Dzhaksybekov, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nurtay Abykayev and President of ?KazMunaiGaz? JSC Kairgeldy Kabyldin. In the Kremlin Prime Minister Massimov was welcomed by President Medvedev. The summit gathered together President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, Prime Minister of Belarus Sergey Sidorsky, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina Nikola Spiric, Premier of Moldova Zinaida Greceanii, Prime Minister of Serbia Mirko Cvetkovic, Vice Premier of Turkey Nazym Ekren, Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic Martin Riman, Minister of Economy of Slovakia Lubomir Jahnatek, Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko, Minister of Fuel and Energy of Ukraine Yury Prodan, CEO of ?Naftogas of Ukraine? National Company Oleg Dubina, Ukraine?s presidential representative on energy issues Bogdan Sokolovsky, EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs. A multilateral meeting lasted for two hours behind closed doors. The summit?s main purpose was to find solution to the problem of gas transit via Ukraine to Europe. Main subject of the negotiations was the establishment of an international consortium that would undertake expenditures for technical gas supply to Ukraine with that of renewal of gas transit to Europe. Large European companies backed the Russian idea. Russia?s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made it public after negotiations with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin the day before. The first one who joined the agreement was ?Eni? CEO Paolo Scaroni. ?Gas summit? in Moscow attracted a great deal of attention from the mass media. Over 400 Russian and foreign correspondents participated in a final press conference of Russian President D. Medvedev. Russian leader emphasized that the conference was very useful. He noted that it was an open and friendly exchange of opinions on the problem of gas crisis. He added that the Russian and Ukrainian prime ministers would continue discussions on resolving the dispute.