Nord Stream 2 to be successful project - BASF chief
March 22 (Interfax) - BASF CEO Kurt Bock is confident that Nord Stream 2 will be a successful project.
"Cooperation in energy, specifically in the gas industry, is proceeding very well and will be very, very successful", Bock said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. "This is very important for the industry and of course here, in this area, the main project for us is Nord Stream 2", he stated.
Bock said that joint efforts had made a success of the Nord Stream 1 project, and that those good cooperation relations would lead to success for Nord Stream 2.
Bock seconded Putin's statement that Nord Stream has purely economic aims stemming from the trend toward increased gas consumption in Europe that Russia will help to meet.
Commenting on cooperation in the chemical sector, Bock pledged to work to increase the localization of production to Russia.
The last two years have not been easy ones, he said, but beginning this year a growth trend has been seen. The initial conditions for further growth are better now than they were in the past and BASF will exert every effort to make use of these opportunities, he said.
Bock said he discussed this very topic recently with the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry.
Mario Mehren, the CEO of BASF's oil and gas subsidiary Wintershall, said he supported Bock's decision to meet with Putin since it demonstrates the importance BASF assigns to Russia and implementation of projects in Russia. The issues on the agenda include construction chemicals, oil and gas and R&D, he said. Wintershall, BASF's main company in Russia, will also be discussed, Mehren told journalists in Kassel on Wednesday.