MOSCOW, December 19 (RIA Novosti)-Russia and Kazakhstan could soon complete negotiations on the establishment of a joint venture to process the latter's natural gas, Russian energy giant Gazprom said Monday.
Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller and Kazakh Energy and Natural Resources Minister Vladimir Shkolnik met Monday and praised joint work to organize the processing of Kazakh natural gas at a plant in Orenburg, whose eponymous region borders on the Central Asian state.
The sides said that the majority of the issues connected with establishing the joint venture had been well handled and the negotiating process could be completed in the near future.
In June 2002, Gazprom and Kazakhstan's national oil and gas company, KazMunaiGaz, set up a joint venture - KazRosGaz - on parity terms and registered it in Kazakhstan. It was designed to purchase and market natural gas processed in Russia.
