MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. Russia is ready to help Kazakhstan in gasification of the country’s northern and eastern regions, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview to the country’s Kazakhstanskaya Pravda newspaper, published on Wednesday.
"As for Kazakhstan, Russia is ready to assist in gasification of its northern and eastern regions in accordance with the Roadmap for cooperation in the gas sector signed by Gazprom and the Government of Kazakhstan on 18 January this year," the Russian leader said.
"Currently, various options are being worked out to debug the relevant gas transmission infrastructure," he added.
Putin said that a strategic cooperation agreement providing for gas exploration, production, processing and transportation was signed on November 1 on the margins of the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum by Gazprom head Alexei Miller and First Deputy Prime Minister of Kazakhstan Roman Sklyar.
When asked about cooperation in the gas sector, the Russian leader said he saw broad prospects for cooperation in this domain. This is explained, among other things, by the infrastructure and routes of gas transmission and gas distribution systems in Russia and Central Asia established over many years and the high level of coordination both bilaterally and multilaterally, he said.
“Let me remind you that on 7 October, together with the Presidents of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, we participated in the ceremony of the launch of Russian natural gas supplies to Uzbekistan via Kazakhstan. This route will make it possible to make the most efficient use of existing gas transport networks and will contribute to the development not only of our three countries, but also of the entire Central Asian region. In the future, we believe it would be advisable to hold consultations with our colleagues from Turkmenistan. They traditionally participate in these markets. It would be in our common interests to involve them in such cooperation,” Putin added.
He said Russia and Kazakhstan were “constructively interacting” in the oil sector as well.
Using the logistic facilities of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Russia is transporting oil to the global markets in the most reliable and cost-effective way, the Russian leader said. In his opinion, Russia, together with its OPEC+ partners, makes a significant contribution to ensuring stability and predictability of the global oil market.