MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. The demand for gas in the world can grow by 43% in the next twenty-five years, Gazprom is ready for it, the company’s CEO Alexey Miller said.

"As for the use of gas in the world, the general opinion of experts is that the growth in demand for gas will continue. And within 25 years globally it will grow by 43%. And the most important thing is that we are ready for this," he said at the meeting on the preliminary results of the year.

According to Miller, Gazprom is developing cooperation with countries interested in reliable energy supplies. "We have been working in the eastern direction for a long time, first of all, with China," he added.

Miller also noted that in Europe, on the contrary, demand for gas is being "artificially destroyed for the first time in the history of world energy."

Earlier, Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov predicted an increase in global gas demand by 600 billion cubic meters until 2040.