Cooperation in energy, engineering and agriculture will be discussed by the representatives of the two countries during the visit of the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to Russia, said the Minister of energy Alexander Novak.
MOSCOW, 15 Jan. Representatives of the Russian Federation and Qatar during the visit of the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in Russia will discuss cooperation in energy, processing, engineering and agriculture, told reporters energy Minister Alexander Novak.
“I am the co-chair of the intergovernmental Commission on trade and economic cooperation with Qatar, and we consider various issues of development of cooperation in the energy sector and in other sectors of higher value added processing, machinery, agricultural products,” said Novak, answering the question, what issues will be discussed during the visit of the Emir of Qatar in the Russian Federation.
The President of Russia Vladimir Putin on January 18 to hold talks with the Emir of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, during which will discuss energy and the situation in the middle East.
Novak said that Russia and Qatar no of joint projects in the gas industry. “The gas industry, interaction within the framework of the Forum of gas exporting countries, and the implementation of concrete projects on the territory of Russia or Qatar — such projects no,” he said.
Gas as a bargaining chip
While Qatar is a major supplier of natural gas in the world, including LNG. Earlier in December, it was reported that at the meeting of foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and foreign Minister of Qatar Khaled bin Mohammed al-Attiyah, the sides confirmed the readiness to support each other on energy, including gas, markets.
Russia and Qatar compete as suppliers of gas to the markets, in particular Europe, said Deputy General Director for gas projects of national energy security Fund Alexei Grivach. At the same time, the estimated volumes of LNG from the plant “Yamal LNG” will not be able to compete with the existing volumes of LNG from Qatar, he said.
Representatives of the Russian Federation and Qatar during the visit of the Emir of Qatar to discuss cooperation in the development of an export strategy gas supplies in the current market conditions, said Grivach. The expert does not exclude that “Qatar has to offer some concessions in the energy sector in exchange for concessions on our part”. “I think largely it will be tied to political matters”, — the expert added.
He noted that projects in the gas sphere between Russia and Qatar is not, however, a few years ago attempts were made to attract investments of Qatar in the Russian projects. “But concrete is not reached”, — said the analyst.
