MOSCOW, June 17. /ITAR-TASS/. Germany’s Wintershall will invest €500 million in the development of oil and gas fields in Russia in 2013-2015, the company said in a statement Tuesday, citing CEO Rainer Seele.

“Our partnership with Gazprom and Lukoil is beneficial, and we plan to continue this cooperation in the future,” Seele said in the statement published before the World Petroleum Congress in Moscow. “We are keeping the commitment to investments in mutual projects with Russian partners both in Russia and abroad.”

Tensions between Moscow and the European countries have resulted in the postponement of granting Russia the right to use 100% of the capacity of the Opal gas pipeline in Germany, Seele said.

Wintershall fully supports construction of another Russian gas pipeline, South Stream, he said. “Wintershall is not a shareholder of the onshore segment of the pipeline which will be laid across the south-east of Europe, but we are convinced that all problematic issues for this segment will be settled,” Seele said.

Wintershall holds a 15% stake in the maritime segment of South Stream.