During his business trip to Vietnam, Valeriy Gulev, Managing Director of Gazprom International, has had a meeting on the 20th of October in Ho Chi Minh (business and industrial center of Southern Vietnam) with the Head of the People's Committee of the City, Le Hoang Quan.

Aside from the Mayor, the chief executive of the Russian company was greeted by the Head of the Planning and Investment Department of the People's Committee Shi Ngoc Anh, the Head of the Industry and Trade Department Nguyen Phuong Dong, the Head of Transport Department Le Hoang Minh and a number of other officials.

Consul General of the Russian Federation in Ho Chi Minh Alexey Popov and the Head of the local Gazprom International Representative Office Andrey Kovtun took part in the meeting along with Valeriy Gulev.

During the meeting, Valeriy Gulev has informed Mr. Quan of certain aspects pertaining to the project of usage of liquefied natural gas as fuel for vehicles, the initial stage of which is now being implemented in the Southern SRV by Gazprom International and Gazprom Gas Engine Fuel LLC in cooperation with Vietnamese partners from PV Gas, and introduced the Director of the joint venture PVGAZPROM Natural Gas For Vehicles (PVGAZPROM NGV), incorporated recently in Ho Chi Minh, to the Mayor.

The Mayor of Ho Chi Minh gave his congratulations to the Russian guests on the commencement of operations within the framework of the project and expressed his satisfaction with the opening of a representative office in the center of Southern Vietnam by Gazprom International, which has been operating in the country for a long time in close cooperation with the Vietnamese oil and gas group Petrovietnam.

“As of today, the estimated amount of registered foreign investments into the city is over 3 billion dollars, and I hope that, along with your project, it is going to cross the threshold of 4 billion,” said the Mayor.

According to his words, the population of Ho Chi Minh has already grown to over 10 million people today, and the initiative to have public transport converted for the usage of a cheaper and more environment-friendly fuel “is not just a tribute to a modern trend, but an undertaking that the city absolutely requires”.

Le Hoang Quan has also mentioned that, despite the impetuous growth of trade flow after a free trade agreement has been made between the SRV and the Customs Union countries and the fact that the number of Russian tourists visiting Ho Chi Minh has reached 60 thousand people this year, “all the figures pertaining to joint achievements in our partnership available as of today are quite moderate as compared to the existing potential”.

Inasmuch as the production plan is going to be developed in the near future for the newly founded joint venture, the chief executive of the Russian company asked the Mayor to see to it that the administrative officials of Ho Chi Minh in charge of industry and infrastructure would also get involved in this process to the extent possible.

Mr. Gulev pointed out that “these investments are mostly made for the benefit of the city, so we think it would be wrong to start and carry out this work without the city's representatives”.

Head of People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh, in turn, has assured the guests of the “unquestioned readiness of the Mayor's Office to provide comprehensive support for the implementation of projects within the city's territory in the spirit of a universal strategic partnership between Vietnam and the Russian Federation”.

NOTE

On the 15th of October, the Planning and Investment Department of the Mayor's Office of the city of Ho Chi Minh has issued a registration certificate to the joint Vietnamese and Russian company for implementing projects in the industry of usage of natural gas as fuel for vehicles PVGAZPROM Natural Gas For Vehicles Limited Liability Company (PVGAZPROM NGV).

The joint venture was comprised as follows: Gazprom International, the unified specialized enterprise of PJSC Gazprom specializing in the exploration, prospecting and development of hydrocarbon deposits abroad (35,5%), Gazprom Gas Engine Fuel LLC, the consortium's sole operator in charge of development of the NGV fuel market (35,5%) and a subsidiary structure of the Vietnamese oil and gas group (VOGG) Petrovietnam – Joint-Stock Gas Company PETROVIETNAM GAS (PV Gas, 29%).

According to the Articles of Association, the objectives of the joint venture are as follows: the construction and commissioning of natural gas liquefaction facilities, cryogenic and multi-fuel filling stations, individual fuel pumps for water transport, liquefied natural gas acceptance, storage and regasification facilities, vehicle refit and service depots and other objects of gas engine infrastructure for servicing machines and mechanisms using natural gas as engine fuel for vehicles.

The agreement of incorporation of a joint gas engine fuel production venture was signed in November 2013 in Hanoi by the Chairman of the Management Committee of PJSC Gazprom Alexey Miller and Do Van Hau, currently the ex-President of  Petrovietnam, in the presence of the Presidents of Russia and Viet Nam.

On behalf of Gazprom, Gazprom International has assumed a 49% share in the Moc Tinh and Hai Thach gas deposit exploration and development project implemented within the boundaries of shelf blocks No 05-2 and No 05-3 in 2012, having commenced commercial production therein in September 2013 and achieved an output of 3 billion cubic meters of gas to this day. Raw materials obtained within the boundaries of this project are intended to be supplied to production facilities for the purpose of meeting the Southern Vietnamese demand for natural gas for vehicles.