Gazprom will use its planned South Stream pipeline to carry a third of its gas exports to Europe by 2015, chief executive Alexei Miller said Friday in an apparent warning to Ukraine, which now handles the bulk of the transit.
Gazprom and Italy's Eni recently agreed to expand the capacity of South Stream, which will run under the Black Sea, to 63 billion cubic meters of gas -- or 35 percent of Gazprom's exports to that region, Miller said.
Miller's statement implies that Gazprom is hoping to export about 180 bcm of gas to Europe in 2015. The company and its partners, Germany's E.On and Wintershall and Holland's Gasunie, are planning to build another pipeline, Nord Stream, under the Baltic Sea that would transport 55 bcm in 2012.
The figures suggest that Gazprom aims for an annual 118 bcm of its gas to bypass Ukraine by 2015. Ukraine transported roughly the same amount of Gazprom's gas last year, or 80 percent of the firm's exports to Europe. Belarus handled the rest.
Gazprom has had two major payment spats with Ukraine, most recently in January, when a dispute over transit halted European deliveries for days on end and led to widespread shortages in the middle of winter.
"The implementation of these projects are a strategic investment by Gazprom into increasing Europe's energy security," Miller said at Gazprom's annual shareholders meeting.
Miller also took a swipe at Europe for its desire to become less dependent on Russian gas imports by trying to arrange alternative supplies from countries like Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iraq. Many gas-rich countries are politically unstable and are inexperienced at laying pipelines and servicing contracts, he said without naming any countries.
"That's why Europe's desire to diversify gas suppliers is understandable but shouldn't turn into a fetish," he said.
If Europe neglects ties with Russia in favor of securing new alternative supplies, it could risk a surprise result, Miller said.
"There will be more diversification but less stability and reliability."
Russia is seeking to buy as much gas as possible from these possible rival suppliers, a move that could undermine the Nabucco pipeline project, which aims to import gas from the Caspian Sea area and Central Asia.
In one such effort, Russia is in talks with Azerbaijan to buy some of its gas, and Miller said the countries might strike "new important deals" next week when he will accompany President Dmitry Medvedev on a trip to Baku.
Shareholders kept Gazprom's board largely intact, replacing two of the 11 members. Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko will sit on the board instead of Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Khristenko, while law professor Valery Musin will take the single independent member's slot, replacing Boris Fyodorov, a former finance minister who passed away last year.
Musin is chief of the civil law office at St. Petersburg State University's law department and a former teacher of President Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
In other news from the AGM, the chairman of the board, First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, said board members would donate last year's remuneration to charity.
Miller, whose bonus for being a board member is 17.4 million rubles ($560,000), said he would donate it to the St. Petersburg Orthodox Spiritual Academy. The other five members that don't hold government posts will get 15.1 million rubles each. It was unclear Friday where their donations would go.
At a news conference after the meeting, Miller announced that Gazprom had reattained the level of daily sales to Europe that it made last year and said the company still hoped to reach the bold goal of having a market capitalization of $1 trillion some day.
"[Gazprom] is one of the world's most powerful companies," he said proudly. "A company with an unbelievable market might."
Gazprom and Italy's Eni recently agreed to expand the capacity of South Stream, which will run under the Black Sea, to 63 billion cubic meters of gas -- or 35 percent of Gazprom's exports to that region, Miller said.
Miller's statement implies that Gazprom is hoping to export about 180 bcm of gas to Europe in 2015. The company and its partners, Germany's E.On and Wintershall and Holland's Gasunie, are planning to build another pipeline, Nord Stream, under the Baltic Sea that would transport 55 bcm in 2012.
The figures suggest that Gazprom aims for an annual 118 bcm of its gas to bypass Ukraine by 2015. Ukraine transported roughly the same amount of Gazprom's gas last year, or 80 percent of the firm's exports to Europe. Belarus handled the rest.
Gazprom has had two major payment spats with Ukraine, most recently in January, when a dispute over transit halted European deliveries for days on end and led to widespread shortages in the middle of winter.
"The implementation of these projects are a strategic investment by Gazprom into increasing Europe's energy security," Miller said at Gazprom's annual shareholders meeting.
Miller also took a swipe at Europe for its desire to become less dependent on Russian gas imports by trying to arrange alternative supplies from countries like Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Iraq. Many gas-rich countries are politically unstable and are inexperienced at laying pipelines and servicing contracts, he said without naming any countries.
"That's why Europe's desire to diversify gas suppliers is understandable but shouldn't turn into a fetish," he said.
If Europe neglects ties with Russia in favor of securing new alternative supplies, it could risk a surprise result, Miller said.
"There will be more diversification but less stability and reliability."
Russia is seeking to buy as much gas as possible from these possible rival suppliers, a move that could undermine the Nabucco pipeline project, which aims to import gas from the Caspian Sea area and Central Asia.
In one such effort, Russia is in talks with Azerbaijan to buy some of its gas, and Miller said the countries might strike "new important deals" next week when he will accompany President Dmitry Medvedev on a trip to Baku.
Shareholders kept Gazprom's board largely intact, replacing two of the 11 members. Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko will sit on the board instead of Industry and Trade Minister Viktor Khristenko, while law professor Valery Musin will take the single independent member's slot, replacing Boris Fyodorov, a former finance minister who passed away last year.
Musin is chief of the civil law office at St. Petersburg State University's law department and a former teacher of President Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
In other news from the AGM, the chairman of the board, First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, said board members would donate last year's remuneration to charity.
Miller, whose bonus for being a board member is 17.4 million rubles ($560,000), said he would donate it to the St. Petersburg Orthodox Spiritual Academy. The other five members that don't hold government posts will get 15.1 million rubles each. It was unclear Friday where their donations would go.
At a news conference after the meeting, Miller announced that Gazprom had reattained the level of daily sales to Europe that it made last year and said the company still hoped to reach the bold goal of having a market capitalization of $1 trillion some day.
"[Gazprom] is one of the world's most powerful companies," he said proudly. "A company with an unbelievable market might."
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