Russia's Imports Of Kazakh Gas To Get Up To Annual 4 Bn Cu M: Premiers

Kazakh gas exports to Russia will eventually leap over an annual four billion cubic metre mark, said Prime Minister Kasymzhomart Tokayev after negotiations with Mikhail Kasyanov, his Russian counterpart. "We have no objections," Mr. Kasyanov remarked in reply. As the Premiers were addressing the media, they highlighted the importance of a bilateral gas partnership agreement they had signed today. Now, the central companies--Russia's Gazprom and the Kazakh Kaztransgas--will need no intermediaries for contacts, and Kazakh gas will settle in the Russian market, said Kasymzhomart Tokayev. The agreement envisages coordinated action and eventual partnership for gasfield development, gas piping, and updating Kazakh mainlines, added Mikhail Kasyanov. Premier Tokayev hopes his country's privileges will be prolonged for gas piping across Russia along its Transneft company's lines.