Russia to double gas exports to Germany, Putin says

Oct 10, 2006, 16:31 GMT

Dresden, Germany - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday offered to double the amount of natural gas being pumped to Germany in a move he said was aimed at boosting Berlin's energy clout in the European Union.

Speaking at a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the Russian leader said Merkel had requested more gas from the vast deposits in the Stockman reserves under the Barents Sea.

'It's immense,' said Putin of the Stockman field which he said held up to 4 trillion cubic metres of gas and would be in operation for at least the next 50 years.

Putin said Russia planned to use a gas pipeline currently being built under the Baltic Sea between Russia and Germany to ship an additional 50 to 55 million cubic metres of gas to Germany annually.

Russia presently supplies Germany with 40 million cubic metres of gas a year - about a third of German needs.

The 1,200-kilometre Baltic gas pipeline is due to start operating in 2010.

'This would mean that Germany is not only a consumer of natural gas but would make it a big European distributor of Russian gas,' said Putin, adding: 'This will transform the energy face of Germany and strengthen its role in European energy matters.'

Putin's words are likely to further anger the Polish government which has strongly opposed the Baltic Sea gas pipeline. Ties between Germany and Poland have been frosty over the past year due to this and a number of issues relating to the Second World War.

Warsaw argues that in bypassing Polish territory, the Russian government is seeking to use energy as a political weapon. Moscow insists it merely wants direct control over shipments to Germany which Putin said is Moscow's biggest single gas customer.

Turning to an issue overshadowing his two-day visit to Germany, Putin vowed his government was doing everything possible to clear up the killing of journalist Anna Politkovskaya, who was a leading critic of the war in Chechnya.

Putin termed the killing 'abhorrent', while noting that Politkovskaya - whom he described as being well-known in the West and in human rights circles - had never had great influence in Russia.

'The influence of her reports on political life in Russia was almost meaningless,' said Putin speaking through a translator.

But the Russian leader said this fact made it clear that Politkovskaya's murder had done far more damage to Russia than did her reporting.

'The murder of such person ... a wife and mother - is directed against Russia and against the state's power,' he said, adding that those who carried out the killing were 'criminals' and 'must be found and punished.'

'We will do everything possible to achieve this,' he added.

Politkovskaya was shot dead in Moscow last week by an unidentified gunman in an apparent contract killing.

Putin and Merkel met in the former East German city of Dresden where the Russian leader served from 1985 to 1990 as an agent of the former Soviet Union's KGB intelligence service.

Putin, who speaks fluent German, describes visits to Dresden as like 'going home.'

'I love this city,' said the Russian leader as he made a rare smile, adding: 'My daughter was born here and it was here that I learned to speak good German.'

Earlier, Putin and Merkel visited the city's 'Green Vault' museum housing treasures of the former Saxon royal family.

Both leaders were due to have further talks in Dresden on Tuesday evening. The crisis over North Korea's claim to have exploded a nuclear device is on the agenda, with Merkel expected to query Putin on Moscow's stand over possible United Nations sanctions on Pyongyang.

Russia wields veto power in the UN as a permanent member of the Security Council. So far it is unclear whether Russia and fellow Security Council member China will back tough measures aimed at North Korea.

'We are both equally dismayed over the North Korean nuclear tests,' said Merkel.

Trade will be the focus of Putin's talks with business leaders on Wednesday in Munich.

Klaus Mangold, who heads the influential Federation of German Industry's Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations, said Russia would be investing 100 billion dollars in expanding and upgrading its electricity grid and power plants in the next five to eight years.

German companies, he predicted in an InfoRadio interview, were likely to scoop between 20 billion and 30 billion dollars' worth of these contracts.