Gazprom to purchase Kyrgysgaz by August
Director General of KyrgyzGas Turgunbek Kulmurzayev said that Russian Gazprom will sign an agreement on purchase of all assets of Kyrgyzgas within 10 days, RIA-Novosti reported.
The deal will be worth only $1. However, Gazprom will have to
pay off KyrgyzGas's $40 million debt.
"The government will discuss this issue tomorrow," Kulmurzayev
said. "We can frankly say that Kyrgyzgas is bankrupt."
Following acquisition of Kyrgyzgas, Gazprom will have the exclusive
right to import natural gas to the country and will be protected
against expropriation and nationalization in Kyrgyzstan as well as
its subsidiaries.
In turn, the Russian company guarantees to invest over 20 billion
rubles in modernization and reconstruction of Kyrgyzgas's gas
infrastructure in five years.