Russia to meet substantial part of China's demand for oil and gas

Russia is planning to satisfy a considerable part of China's demand foroil, gas and the facilities of infrastructure, Russian Prime MinisterMikhail Kasyanov said after negotiations with Premier of the State Councilof China Zhu Rongji. Kasyanov was quoted as saying the heads of the twocountries' governments made a decision to exercise personal control overnew large-scale projects in this field. As it is pointed out in a jointcommuniquЭ released by the Russian and Chinese Prime Ministers, the partiesbelieve that to successfully implement the construction of the Russia-Chinaoil pipeline, it is necessary to step up the examination of the project inorder to move to the preliminary development stage after it is approved. Additionally, the Russian and Chinese governments are planning to providebroad-based support to the two countries' companies in implementing aproject of the West-East gas pipeline, in which Gazprom, a Russian gasgiant, will participate as part of the international consortium. RussianPrime Minister thanked China for its back-up of Russia's ascension to theWTO. In conclusion, the Russian Prime Minister added "we think that at theeighth annual meeting of the heads of the Russian and Chinese governmentsanother progressive step in the relations of the two countries will bemade"..