Economy minister Videanu: for Russian gas imports, contracts with intermediaries expire in 2012 after which we will talk about a direct relation with Gazprom

Three days after the visit of Gazprom officials in Romania, Romania’s Economy minister Videanu decided to give some official declarations on the results of the meeting. The minister confirmed that Romania received an invitation to join South Stream which plans to transport gases to Europe.

However, the collaboration with the Russians does not stop here. Gazprom will be included in a project to set up some gas deposits in Romania. Follow Videanu’s main declarations:

• all talks with Gazprom are ongoing and we have common objectives in the collaboration with the company
• A first talk was related to direct imports: the Russian party is ready to sign a direct contract and negotiate prices
• A second issue was the South Stream project: we are discussing  initiatives that can have a positive impact in the region
• We offered Gazprom representatives all data required to finish studies related to South Stream
• We receive the invitation to join the South Stream project
• The third issue was Romania’s capacity to store gas deposits
• We insitted to collaborate on energy investments and they were open to talks