| By Louis Charbonneau
TOMSK, Russia, April 27 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and
Russian President Vladimir Putin met in the heart of Siberia on Thursday
to discuss the security of gas supply to Europe and to try to agree on a
strategy for dealing with Iran.
Germany and Russia, already partners in a project to build a Baltic
undersea pipeline to export Siberian gas, struck deals to fill the pipe
with gas and give state-controlled gas monopoly Gazprom (GAZP.MM:
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The agreements came as Gazprom, a former Soviet ministry which has be
transformed by booming energy prices into the world's fourth largest
listed company, makes an aggressive push to add further value by expanding
into European markets.
German chemicals firm BASF (BASF.DE:
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right of BASF to help develop the large Yuzhno-Russkoye gas field in
Siberia, and in return boost Gazprom's stake in their gas distribution
joint venture.
"The agreement we have just signed demonstrates that Russia and Germany
are able to build upon one another. It contributes to the further
development of a stable and reliable partnership between Gazprom and
BASF," said Hambrecht.
But Merkel's visit failed to break the deadlock between Gazprom and
Germany utility E.ON (EONG.DE:
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Research), which are trying to agree terms for the latter's entry into
the three-way venture with BASF to develop Yuzhno-Russkoye.
INTENSE DISCUSSIONS
"Our first discussions were unusually intense," Putin told reporters on
Wednesday evening after a meeting with Merkel on economic and energy ties
between Berlin and Moscow, the focus of Merkel's two-day visit to Tomsk in
western Siberia.
Merkel said they did not discuss foreign policy issues, though members
of Germany's large delegation of 10 ministers and 20 representatives from
top German firms said the two leaders tackled those issues at a dinner
meeting afterwards. |