The Headquarters of Gazprom hosted today a working meeting of Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee with Robert Fico, Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic.

The meeting participants discussed the prospects for further development of cooperation in the gas industry. Special attention was given to interaction of Gazprom and Slovak partners in the sector of Russian gas supplies and its transit through the country.

Alexey Miller and Robert Fico considered the possibility of setting up a joint venture for natural gas storage and sales in Slovakia. An agreement was reached to immediately start expert consultations on the matter.

The parties exchanged opinions on the current situation with Russian gas transit to Europe via Ukraine and agreed on the early warning mode in case of crisis situations.

Robert Fico voiced his support of Gazprom's efforts aimed at ensuring uninterrupted transit and supply of Russian gas to the European countries.

Background:

Slovakia is a major transit partner of Gazprom. The country annually transits some 50 billion cubic meters of gas through its territory.

In 2008 Gazprom supplied Slovakia with more than 6.2 billion cubic meters of Russian gas.