New gas consortium to ensure reliable gas supplies to Europe

The concept of a Russian-German-Ukrainian gas concern must be ready in the next few months, reported Yury Komarov, the deputy Chairman of the Board of Russia's largest gas company, Gazprom.

The idea to set up a gas consortium was supported by the countries' political leaders. It will now take a lot of detailed work to realize it, said Komarov.

One of the main tasks that will face the consortium is to organize reliable gas supplies to Europe. Another important task is to strengthen Ukraine's role in the development of a unified system of gas supplies on the territory of the former USSR, explained Komarov.

On the whole, the development of export policy will allow Gazprom to noticeably increase the cost of its supplies to foreign countries. While today's cost is about 130 billion dollars every year, in the not so distant future the figure may grow to 175 billion.