A working meeting between Alexey Miller, Gazprom’s Management Committee Chairman and Mustafa Batdyev, President of the Republic of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, was held today at Gazprom’s Headquarters.

The parties considered Karachaevo-Cherkessia’s consumers’ current gas payments and gas debt redemption rates. The Republican authorities together with the Mezhregiongaz company will devise a debt restructuring program.

The meeting discussed the Program on gas deliveries to Karachaevo-Cherkessia, envisaging higher volumes (from 86.5% to 98%) of natural and liquefied gas deliveries to the Republic within the period up to 2007.

A. Miller and M. Batdyev addressed the possibility of providing the Republican industrial companies with additional gas volumes this year. In discussing this issue, the parties pointed out that increased gas volumes could be delivered to solvent companies only provided those made advanced gas payments.

Reference:

In 2003 Karachaevo-Cherkessia received over 1 bcm of gas (106.1% against the target), to be, expectedly, increased up to 1.38 million cubic meters in 2004.

As of today, natural gas is delivered to 66.4% of Karachaevo-Cherkessia’s territories, including to 79.4% of the cities and 54% of the rural settlements (against Russia’s average of 52.7%, 60.2% and 33.1%, respectively).

DIVISION OF RELATIONS WITH MASS MEDIA