Medvedev, Karimov discuss energy cooperation

Itar-Tass May 6 Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev met Uzbek President Islam Karimov on Saturday to discuss energy cooperation between the two countries. After the meeting Medvedev told journalists, “There are certain important and interesting spheres of cooperation – the gas sector, for example, in which Russia and Uzbekistan could develop interaction.” “Uzbekistan has sufficient gas reserves and Gazprom has traditionally purchased Uzbek gas. Thus we’ll be able to develop our relations in this field, i.e. transportation and prospects for the joint development,” the first vice-prime minister stressed. In his view, “we may discuss other projects related to hydropower engineering and other sources of energy.” “We considered these issues during our meeting. I hope that we continue further cooperation in this sphere,” he added. On the price for Uzbek gas and transit in 2006, Medvedev said, “This problem should be discussed by the corresponding companies.”