Today, in Vienna (Austria) Alexander Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Dr. Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer, Chief Executive Officer of OMV AG have signed a Cooperation Agreement.

Pursuant to the Agreement, Gazprom Group will receive a 50 per cent stake in the Central European Gas Hub (CEGH) located at Baumgarten. At the moment CEGH is wholly owned by OMV Gas International, a subsidiary of OMV AG.

Additionally, the Agreement contains the accord between the companies to implement joint underground gas storage projects both in Austria and neighboring countries.

“This Agreement is another milestone in a roughly 40-year history of cooperation between our companies. Today we have taken another important step to ensuring the security of natural gas supply to Europe,” said Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer.

“The Cooperation Agreement signed with OMV AG is a crucial contribution into Europe’s natural gas supply security. Gazprom’s participation will create extra conditions for the Central European Gas Hub to become a leader among European trading venues as well as to bolster the continental natural gas market flexibility,” said Alexander Medvedev.

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Within almost 40 years Austria’s largest oil and gas group OMV has been the major business partner of Gazprom. OMV was the first Western company to enter in 1968 into a long-term contract for the purchase of natural gas in the USSR. Until 1987 the state owned a 100 per cent stake in the company. Nowadays the state (via the Austrian Industrial Holding Company – OIAG) is the largest shareholder in OMV owning a 31.5 per cent stake.

In May 2005 Gazprom export and OMV entered into an agreement to supply natural gas to Western Europe by the WAG (West Austria Gasleitung) gas pipeline. The Agreement was concluded for a twenty-year period (from 2007 to 2027). Pursuant to the document, OMV will annually until 2027 transport around 4.4 bcm of Russian gas.

In September 2006 Gazprom and a group of Austrian companies signed long-term contracts to supply gas to Austria. In accordance with the contracts, Gazprom will annually supply nearly 7 bcm of gas to Austria until 2027.

The Central European Gas Hub at Baumgarten is one of the three largest gas distribution centres in Europe and is an international gas trading venue.

In 2006 the volume of gas trading at CEGH accounted for 7.7 bcm and in 2007 – about 1.5 bcm per month.