ST. PETERSBURG, May 23. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian gas giant Gazprom will continue boosting its supplies to Europe in spite of strengthening business relations with China, CEO Alexei Miller said Friday at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

“Russia’s resource capacities are so high that we may supply as much gas to the EU as needed,” Miller said.

Miller noted that Gazprom’s export supplies to Europe in 2013 and the first quarter of 2014 had reached record amounts.

On Wednesday, Gazprom signed a $400 billion 30-year contract with China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), under which the company will supply 38 billion cubic meters of gas to China per year.

 

Stronger ties with China not to hamper cooperation with EU

Stronger economic ties with China are not contrary to the course of cooperation between Russia and the European Union, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"Russia is a great country that pursues a multi-vector policy and has multi-vector economic ties," he said. "Our active cooperation with China only spurs interest of our European partners in mutually beneficial cooperation."

"Europe also actively works with China. Russia is the European Union's third partner for the trade turnover, and China is the second. I see no contradictions," Meshkov notes.