First Meeting Of The Shareholders’ Committee
Personnel decisions taken
March 30, 2006 | Moscow | The first official meeting of the Shareholders’ Committee took place today. The Committee will represent the interests of the Company’s shareholders, OAO Gazprom, E.ON AG, and BASF AG.
The NEGP Company, a Russian-German joint venture, was established in December 2005 with the purpose of carrying out feasibility studies and building the North European Gas Pipeline across the Baltic Sea. The Company’s registered office is based in Zug (Switzerland). Gazprom holds a 51% interest in the joint venture, and BASF and E.ON hold 24.5% each. BASF and E.ON each has appointed two members to the Shareholders’ Committee, and Gazprom has appointed the remaining four. On the Shareholders’ Committee, Gazprom is represented by Alexei Miller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of OAO Gazprom, by Alexander Medvedev, eputy Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of OAO Gazprom and Director-General of OOO Gazexport, by Vlada Russakova, member of the Board and Head of Strategic Development at OAO Gazprom, and by Gerhard Schröder, former Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.
BASF has appointed as its representatives Eggert Voscherau, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors and Director of Personnel of BASF AG, and Reinier Zwitserloot, Chairman of the Management Board of Wintershall AG. E.ON will be represented by Dr. Burckhard Bergmann, member of the Management Board of E.ON AG and Chairman of the Management Board of E.ON Ruhrgas AG, as well as by Hans-Peter Floren, Chairman of E.ON Ruhrgas ransport AG & Co. KG. At their meeting today the members of the Shareholders’ Committee unanimously elected Gerhard Schröder as Chairman of their Committee.
The Shareholders’ Committee also decided to appoint Matthias Warnig, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dresdner Bank ZAO in the Russian Federation, as Managing Director of the NEGP Company. As the next step, the NEGP Company will build up its staff and operational structures in Zug, where the Shareholders’ Committee will hold regular meetings. To coordinate the construction work on NEGP in the Russian Federation, the Shareholder Committee has decided to establish a branch office in Moscow.
Background
North European Gas Pipeline (NEGP)
In December 2005, OAO Gazprom started construction in Babayevo, 351 km east of St. Petersburg, on an onshore pipeline link Gryazovetz – Vyborg. This link will connect the existing gas routes from Siberia to the offshore portion of the NEGP. Seven compressor stations will in future ensure that gas is sufficiently compressed in the pipelines so it can be transported to the Russian Baltic coast.
The NEGP will link the Russian Baltic coast near the town of Vyborg with the German Baltic coast near Greifswald. With a landing point on the German Baltic coast, the NEGP will have only short distances to important markets such as Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Belgium and France. The NEGP will help satisfy the growing demand for imported gas in central and western Europe.
The pipeline is expected to come on stream in 2010 and will have one line with an initial transport capacity of around 27.5 bcm of natural gas a year. It will be approximately 1200 km long, measure 1200 mm in diameter, and have an operating pressure of over 200 bar.
The project provides for construction of a second pipeline, which will double the transport capacity to 55 bcm of gas a year. The construction of the first leg of the pipeline will cost 2-2.5 bln euro. Total capital expenditure on the offshore portion of the project will be over 4 bln euros.
