Today in Paris and in the presence of Prime Minister of Russia Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of France François Fillon Gazprom Management Committee Chairman Alexey Miller and EDF СЕО Henri Proglio signed a Memorandum of understanding on the possibility of EDF participating in the construction of the offshore section of the South Stream pipeline.

The document specifies that the details of EDF’s participation in the project will be worked out jointly with ENI, which currently owns 50% of South Stream AG, the operator of the offshore section of South Stream.

The Memorandum states that EDF’s entering the South Stream will foresee the conclusion of new long-term gas sales contracts. It will secure Gazprom’s marketing of the resources with one of the reliable European customers and enable EDF, which handled 29 bcm in 2008, to obtain guaranteed volumes of hydrocarbons from Russia in the long term. According to the Memorandum Gazprom and EDF will also expand cooperation in the electricity sector in France and elsewhere.

”We are gaining a new reliable and long-term partner today in EDF. The participation of a French company in the South Stream project underscores the pan-European scale of the pipeline and is additional evidence of its tremendous importance for ensuring stable energy supplies to the continent. We are confident that South Stream, along with Nord Stream, which is being recognized by a growing number of European countries, will ensure the well-being of Gazprom’s customers in terms of energy,” – said Alexei Miller.

“The agreement signed with Gazprom, the first gas producer in the world marks the start of a long term partnership between the two companies. It enables EDF to complete a further major step forward in its strategy aiming to secure its gas supplies, both for supplying its own electricity production facilities and for selling of natural gas to its clients. The Group therefore strengthens its presence through gas reserve and infrastructure project”, – said Henri Proglio.