Gazprom, CNPC won't sign contract during Hu Jintao's visit to Russia
ST. PETERSBURG/BEIJING. June 17 (Interfax) - Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) will not sign a contract on gas deliveries during the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, as planned previously.
"This time we won't be signing anything," Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev told reporters.
No document signing concerning deliveries of Russian gas to China is planned during President Hu Jintao's visit to Russia, which began on June 15 and will end on June 18, a source close to the CNPC leadership told Interfax.
"There has been no development in the situation [during the latest gas talks in Moscow]. There was no progress on gas. No agreement was reached," the source said, adding that the sides will continue the negotiations.
A source in the Russian delegation to the talks told Interfax that the sides had not reached agreement on the basic terms of the gas deliveries. As before, the main differences center on prices and the minimum volumes China is to take up, he said.
Nor will the St. Petersburg Economic Forum feature the signing of a four-party agreement among the shareholders in the South Stream gas pipeline project. "We won't be signing anything," Medvedev said.
Gazprom officials will hold a number of meetings at the forum, including with the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, Peter Voser, and with Eni chief Paolo Scaroni.
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