US Energy Secretary Will Meet With His Russian Colleagues

US energy secretary Spencer Abraham is planning to discuss non-proliferation and storage of nuclear materials with the Russian government. According to the press service of the US energy department, the main purpose of Abraham's visit to Russia, which is to start Monday, is to represent the United States at the official ceremony which is to mark the commissioning of a Caspian Pipeline Consortium's (KTK) route. The ceremony is to be held in Novorossiisk (a port on the eastern Black Sea coast) Tuesday. The pipeline built linked the Tengiz oil fields in the west of Kazakhstan with the oil terminal on the Black Sea coast to transport crude to West European countries. In its recent press-release, the US energy department told that the construction of the KTK pipeline and a number of allied facilities was so far the largest joint investment project in Russia. Total investments made in the project amount to 2.5 billion dollars. The Caspian pipeline consortium unites, along with the governments of Russia, Kazakhstan and Oman, eight major companies from six countries, including such American giants as Chevron, Texaco and Exxon-Mobil. According to the press service of the US energy department, Spencer Abraham would like to use his first visit to Russia in order to have talks with his Russian colleagues. Apart from talks with the Russian atomic energy minister Alexander Rumyantsev, Abraham is expected to meet with his Russian counterpart Igor Yusufov.