The city of Kazan (Tatarstan's capital) hosted today a Meeting of the "Russian Gas Society" (RGS) Non-Profit Partnership's Commission for using natural and liquefied petroleum gas as motor fuel.The Meeting was presided by Bogdan Budzulyak, the Commission's Chairman, Gazprom's Management Committee Member and Head of Gazprom's Gas Transportation, Underground Storage and Utilization Department.

The Commission's Presidium was composed of Viktor Ilyushin, Gazprom's Management Committee Member and Head of the Company's Department of Relationships with the RF Regional Authorities, Valery Golubev, Gazprom's Management Committee Member and Gazkomplektimpex's Director General, Alexey Zubenya, the RGS's Executive Director, Rustam Minnikhanov, Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan, Vladimir Gusev, First Deputy Chairman of the RF Federation Council's Committee for Economic Policy, Entrepreneurship and Property, Yevgeny Zayashnikov, member of the RF Statal Duma's Energy, Transportation and Communications Committee and Rafkat Kantyukov, Tattransgaz's Director General.

Members of the RF Federal Assembly, representatives of the RF Government, Federal Ministries ands departmental institutions, top executives of Gazprom's Administration and subsidiaries, motor transport and agricultural companies of the Volga region as well as heads of companies producing gas-filling equipment took part in the Meeting.

Opening the Commission's Meeting, Bogdan Budzulyak pointed out that " from the very beginning the Commission had paid particular attention to intensifying interaction with the RF regions in using natural gas as motor fuel. Today's Meeting primarily aimes at drawing once again attention of the RF regional authorities and heads of ecological organizations and motor transport companies to the wider usage of gas as the most eco-friendly type of motor fuel."

The Protocol signed at the end of the Meeting runs that natural gas is insignificantly used nowadays as motor fuel in Russia. Most of the RF regions entering the Volga Federal District use some 4-13% of the design capacities of automated gas-filling compressor stations (AGFCS). At the same time, Russia's United Gas Transmission System provides an opportunity to create a wide network of gas-fuelling stations and, at present, can fuel over 250 thousand vehicles with natural gas and render local, interurban and international transportation services.

The Commission approved a Draft federal law stipulating regulations and encitement of using alternative motor fuel types as well as a Draft law on amending the existing RF legislation upon adoption of the aforementioned law. The Commission recommended the RF authorities' representatives to initiate preparation and consideration of similar Draft laws to be applied on a regional scale.

The next meeting of the Commission is scheduled for the 4th quarter of 2004 - 1st quarter of 2005. The Commission will review a Draft Conception of the gas motor fuel market development in the RF as well as a range of issues related to building up mutually advantageous cooperatiion between Russian oil and gas companies in developing the gas motor fuel market.

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As of today, 207 automated gas-filling compressor stations (AGFCS) are functioning in 163 municipalities of the 59 RF regions. The total design capacity of the AGFCSs accounts for some 2 bcm per year and 88% of these (183 stations) are owned by Gazprom.

Russian natural gas-driven motor vehicles are estimated at 36 thousand units. Starting 1999, methane sales have started growing and reached 140 million cubic meters in 2003, with 130 million cubic meters marketed through the Gazprom-run AGFCSs.

At the same time, while in Italy a methane-fuelling station renders services to 865 motor vehicles, in Argentina, to 930 vehicles, in Brazil, 950 vehicles, in India, 960 and in Pakistan, 970, the same parameter in Russia accounts for 145 motor vehicles per an AGFCS.

The previous Meeting of the Commission was held on 3 September 2002, at Gazprom's Headquarters. The Meeting approved the Conception for the Russian methane-fuelled transport development. The Document envisages 1 million motor vehicles to be methane-fired by 2020, over 1,100 AFGCSs to be built and a respective infrustructure to be established. As a result, the motor petroleum fuel replacement is expected to amount to 1.5-1.7 million tons per annum in 2015 and to 2.1-2.3 million tons, in 2020. The gas-related pollution will decrease by 750-850 thousand tons in 2015 and 1-1.2 million tons, in 2020.

DIVISION OF RELATIONS WITH MASS MEDIA