The government would welcome new investment by GDF Suez in power and gas liquefaction to further widen partnerships with French companies, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told GDF’s chairman Tuesday.

“We know about the level of your competence in gas liquefaction and are interested in developing our partnership in this and other spheres, including transportation and power,” Putin told Gerard Mestrallet in a meeting attended by reporters.

Mestrallet told Putin that GDF, which has been buying gas from Gazprom for decades, was looking at expanding in Russia, including via new projects with Gazprom.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Yury Trutnev said last week that the country could soften its legislation on foreign investments to accommodate the new financial realities.

Putin’s statement came just two weeks after U.S. executives in Moscow on a visit with U.S. President Barack Obama called on Russia to ease caps on foreign investments in strategic sectors.

GDF’s press office said Tuesday that it would acquire a 9 percent stake in the Gazprom-controlled Nord Stream pipeline project from Germany’s Wintershall Holding and E.On Ruhrgas.

(Reuters, Bloomberg)