Turkmen President, Russian Deputy PM Discuss Gas

Russian Deputy Prime Minister for Energy Igor Sechin has met with Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov to discuss energy relations between the two countries, RFE/RL's Turkmen Service reports.

No details of their talks were available, but they no doubt centered on the natural-gas dispute between the two countries in which a pipeline explosion has caused the flow of gas to Russia to stop.

Also on April 20, Gazprom deputy chief executive Aleksandr Medvedev told Russian television that there are only three major gas-supplying countries in the world -- Russia, Qatar, and Iran -- while all others are marginal suppliers.

He added that the proposed Nabucco project -- which would bring gas to Europe without involving Russia -- does not have enough gas resources to function and has not been contracted yet.