DUSHANBE, May 27 (RIA Novosti) - A commission on cooperation with Russian energy giant Gazprom will be created in Tajikistan, the state-owned Tajikgaz company said in a news release Saturday.
The commission, comprised of representatives of the Economic Development, Energy, and Finance Ministries as well as other government agencies and departments overseeing the sector, will deal with the legal and technical aspects of creating a Tajik-Russian joint venture in the oil and gas sphere.
During his visit to Tajikistan in March, Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller and the energy minister of Tajikistan signed a memorandum on the creation of an oil and gas joint venture.
"Initially, we are allocating $6 million from our budget to the joint venture," Miller said.
Regarding the parties' shares in the venture's authorized capital, Miller said there was an "agreement that Gazprom will hold the JV's controlling stake."
Miller also met with Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov to discuss cooperation in the oil and gas and energy spheres.
After the meeting, he told journalists that "priorities on natural gas deposits in Tajikistan, where Gazprom will be involved in prospecting and which will provide for the country's gas needs at the local level" had been set.
Under the deal, Gazprom will develop four gas fields - Sarikamysh and Rengan in the west, and Sargazon and Olimtoi in the south. Proven gas resources in Sarikamysh and Rengan total 40 billion cubic meters and Sargazon 30 billion, while the Olimtoi deposit has yet to be prospected.
