Sergey Loparev, Director of VNIIA

– Mutual benefit of such cooperation is obvious

On Dec 16 2008 Chairman of the Board of Gazprom OJSC Aleksey Miller and Director General of Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation Sergey Kiriyenko signed a six-year general cooperation agreement. The agreeing parties are planning to implement strategic projects to develop sea and shelf gas deposits (Shtokmanovsky deposit, deposits in Yamal and the Far East); to supply electricity to gas transportation networks for supply of gas to regions of the Russian Federation and export of gas to Western Europe and South-east Asia; to coordinate inter-related investment projects; to develop new technologies, designing competitive (import-substituting) production for enhancing the efficiency of prospecting, extraction, transportation, storage, processing of natural gas and gas condensate. The parties are also planning to develop a program of scientific-technical cooperation to be renewed each three years and to set up a council for coordination of joint action under strategic projects and investment programs.

In the late 1980s our institute was involved in the cooperation with Gazprom. Particularly, we were offered to design a series of pressure gauges for gas distribution plants and gas pipelines. Our institute did it in the late 1980s-early 1990s and since then has supplied Gazprom with such products. Since we have rivals we are constantly improving our production.

Based on such big experience, our specialists have developed a number of products for use at projected nuclear power plants. A month ago we said that we could supply similar products to new and modernized nuclear reactors. That is, today we are supplying our own industry with products designed especially for Gazprom.

Today, we have a number of new proposals and we are going to promote them and to prove the high competitiveness of our products. We believe that both Rosatom and Gazprom will need them in the framework of their new general agreement.

The mutual benefit of such cooperation is obvious. For the moment, we have both Russian and foreign equipment on the market and, if Rosatom opts for Rosatom’s products, it means that our companies will have additional contracts, additional jobs and higher wages. We try not to let the import in and have certain preferences and advantages from our cooperation with Gazprom. Despite the crisis of the 1990s, our nuclear industry has preserved its scientific-technical capacities and competitiveness. So, Gazprom can be sure that it will get high-quality products at optimal price.