OREANDA-NEWS. June 11, 2010. Cannes (France) hosted today the 13th Annual General Meeting of the European Business Congress (EBC) and the 22nd regular meeting of the EBC Presiding Committee. Around 250 representatives of companies and institutions from 23 OSCE member states took part in the Meeting. A Gazprom delegation was headed by Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Company’s Management Committee, President of EBC.

The “Natural Gas – the Energy of the 21st Century” Conference was held as part of the EBC General Meeting. Alexey Miller delivered a speech at the Conference.

In addition, Alexey Miller had working meetings with Gerard Mestrallet, Chief Executive Officer of GDF SUEZ; Marcel Kramer, Chief Executive Officer of Gasunie; Paolo Scaroni, Chief Executive Officer of Eni; Dimitrios Copelouzos, Chief Executive Officer of Prometheus Gas; and Dr. Jochen Weise, Member of the E.ON Ruhrgas Executive Board.

During the bilateral negotiations the parties discussed cooperation development prospects in the gas sector and came to the agreement that natural gas demand in Europe would grow in the long run.

At the meeting with Paolo Scaroni the discussion centered on the issues related to further implementation of the South Stream project. Alexey Miller informed his Italian partners on the progress with the comprehensive feasibility study for the gas pipeline both offshore and onshore. The parties also addressed the terms and conditions for EDF’s entry into the shareholding structure of South Stream AG.

At the meeting with Gerard Mestrallet special attention was paid to the key principles for GDF SUEZ to join the Nord Stream project. It was emphasized that it would be possible to reinforce the security of energy supply to European consumers through the French company’s involvement into the gas pipeline construction.

During the negotiations with the E.ON Ruhrgas leadership the parties discussed current partnership issues in the gas supply segment. It was underlined that the mutually beneficial cooperation on the energy market had to be based on observing the balance of interests and fair sharing of market risks between gas producers and importers.
Background

The European Business Congress (EBC) comprises 117 companies from 23 OSCE member states including such prominent corporations and banks as Gazprom, ExxonMobil, Daimler Chrysler, Siemens, Shell, ConocoPhillips, Total, Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, Alcatel, Wintershall, E.ON Ruhrgas, GDF SUEZ and others. EBC publishes its bulletin in the English and Russian languages twice a year.

EBC’s supreme body is the General Meeting. The 35-member Presiding Committee exercises general management. The EBC President is Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee. The 9-member Board of Executive Directors is responsible for executive management.

EBC deals with economic cooperation issues in Europe and brings forward proposals for debottlenecking and building a safe and favorable environment for entrepreneurial activities. EBC operates through seven Working Committees for: Energy; Industry and Construction; Law, Banking and Finance; Information and Communications; Ecology and Healthcare; Human Resources, Education and Science; Business Security.