OREANDA-NEWS. June 8, 2012. The leading experts of the Russian and foreign gas industry gathered on July 4th in Lenexpo to discuss the topical issues of the world gas sector development and exchange their opinions on prospects of the most significant investment projects.

The opening ceremony of the St. Petersburg International Gas Forum-2012 was visited by Valery Golubev, Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of JSC Gazprom; Nikolay Isakov, Deputy Director General for Governmental and Regional Relations of Gazprom - Mezhregiongas, LLC; Vladislav Petrov, Chairman of the Power and Engineering Support Committee of the St. Petersburg Government; Sergey Gustov, Director General of Gazprom Gazoraspredelenie OJSC; Vladimir Averyanov, President of the Union of Power Engineers of the North-West Region of Russia; Benedikt Haller, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Saint Petersburg; Sergey Voronkov, Executive Director of ExpoForum JSC and Director General of Lenexpo OJSC; Oleg Shost, Director General of Farexpo Group of Companies, and other honored guests.

According to Valery Golubev, the country with such rich deposits as in Russia has long felt a growing need to hold a serious industry event where the power safety specialists and the representatives of the major gas companies could share experience and receive new information.

Vladislav Petrov declared that St. Petersburg had every reason to be called the gas capital of Russia. Though there are no gas fields in the city, all scientific and personnel policy of this backbone industry of the Russian economy is carried out here.

Sergey Voronkov expressed his gratitude to everyone who participated in the organization of so important and prospective event. He noticed that the Gas Forum developed dynamically, promising to consolidate the most part of domestic events related to the gas theme in the future. The development concept of the Forum is included into the strategy of ExpoForum JSC for integration of exhibitions and congresses and for consolidation of industry projects at one time and on one site. Such site will be ExpoForum, one of the largest congress and exhibition centers in Europe that is expected to open in 2014.

The St. Petersburg International Gas Forum-2012 was held in Lenexpo from June 4th till June 6th. The global aim of the event is to support Russia’s status as a leading gas power in the world and a reliable partner for the foreign companies engaged in gas production, gas distribution and other related sectors.