Today, within the framework of regular consultations between the companies, a meeting of Alexey Miller, Chairman of Gazprom’s Management Committee, Dr. Wulf Bernotat, Chairman of the Board of Management & CEO of E.ON AG and Dr. Burckhard Bergmann, Chairman of the Executive Board of E.ON Ruhrgas AG has taken place in Dusseldorf (Germany).

The parties addressed the prospects for deeper cooperation in the oil & gas sector.

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Founded in June 2000 through the merger of the two firms VEBA and VIAG, the German company E.ON AG is the world’s largest privately-held power generation & gas Concern with over EUR 56 bln in annual turnover and about 80,000 people employed.

E.ON Ruhrgas AG (Ruhrgas AG, before July 1, 2004) has been part of the E.ON AG Concern since February 2003 and has overseen the Group’s gas business in Europe, including production, marketing, transmission and storage.

The company counts on a manifold 11,273-km-long gas transmission network comprising 12 underground storage facilities with 5.1 bcm in overall working gas volume. In terms of natural gas marketing (690.2 bln kW/h), E.ON Ruhrgas AG is a leader in Germany and is among the top three firms in Europe.

Owning a 6.5% stake in Gazprom, E.ON Ruhrgas AG is its largest foreign shareholder.

Over a range of years, Gazprom and E.ON Ruhrgas AG have been successfully cooperating in the gas pipeline anticorrosion protection, gas-pumping unit operation optimization, gas dispatching and other joint businesses.

In 2000 (Berlin) and 2002 (Moscow), Gazprom and Ruhrgas AG signed the Memoranda of understanding.

On July 8, 2004, Gazprom and E.ON AG sealed the Memorandum of understanding that fixed agreements to further deepen successful cooperation when implementing both companies’ strategic projects. In addition to the traditional gas supply business, the parties started implementing joint gas extraction, transmission & marketing and power generation projects.