Russian Minister for Economic Development and Trade German Gref and U.S. Energy Minister Samuel Bodmen met on May 24, 2005.

 Negotiations were held as part of implementation of resolutions taken at the Bratislava Summit of the Russian and U.S. Presidents.

During the meeting, the parties exchanged opinions on the status of one of the most essential lines of bilateral cooperation - the energy dialogue between the two countries.  The parties considered implementation of bilateral projects for LNG production and supplies to the U.S. market, new gas field development off-shore the Barents Sea, construction of Northwestern pipeline systems reaching the shore of the Arctic Ocean, and some aspects in connection with the prospects of joint projects in Russia.

During their discussion, the Ministers paid special attention to a series of provisions of a new federal bill, On Minerals, in particular, to conditions upon which foreign investors will be engaged in development of energy fields in Russia.

Great priority was given to operations of the Russia-U.S. Commercial Energy Dialogue (RUSCED) and of the Inter-Institutional Bilateral Task Group for Energy Cooperation as to one of the most important tools in energy dialogue development. The parties spoke in favor of further intensification of interaction and expansion of the number of companies participating in RUSCED.

Minister Gref emphasized that another business energy summit with participation of Russian and U.S. business majors as well as ministers of the economic and energy blocks of both countries may become a way of fuller implementation of the potential of Russian-U.S. energy cooperation.

Deputy Russian Minister for Economic Development and Trade A.V. Sharonov, representatives of the departments for foreign economic relations, state regulation of tariffs and infrastructure reforms and investment policy took part in the negotiations.