Milan, March 12 - Neftegaz.RU. A joint delegation headed by Viktor Zubkov, Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors, made a working visit to Italy.
The delegation included Vitaly Markelov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom’s Management Committee, top executives from the relevant subdivisions of Gazprom and Gazprom Gazomotornoye Toplivo, heads of the Russian regions where pilot projects for accelerated development of the NGV market are currently underway – Evgeny Savchenko, Governor of the Belgorod Region, and Vasily Golubev, Governor of the Rostov Region – as well as Valery Golubev, Chairman of the Board of the Natural Gas Vehicles Association, representatives of manufacturers of gas-powered machinery and equipment.
Delegation members met with Attilio Fontana, President of the Italian region of Lombardy. The meeting participants discussed the region’s successes in expanding its market of eco-friendly fuels for gas-powered vehicles, such as gas. It was noted that there are currently about 117,000 NGVs in Lombardy, while the region’s NGV refueling network includes 186 CNG filling stations.
The parties looked into the possibility of carrying out joint projects for the wider use of gas as a vehicle fuel and reviewed the prospects for further collaboration in this regard between Milan, Belgorod, and Rostov-on-Don. Particular attention was paid to the potential for industrial cooperation between Russian and Italian companies in the manufacturing of oil-and-gas machinery.
In the course of the meeting, Valery Golubev and Mariarosa Baroni, President of NGV Italy, signed a MoU. The document reflects the interest of Russian and Italian enterprises and commercial entities in joining efforts to expand the use of gas as a vehicle fuel.
Delegation members learned about the work of Italian manufacturers of gas-powered equipment, as well as visited NGV refueling facilities and a service center where motor vehicles are converted to natural gas.
«Today, Gazprom is carrying out pilot projects that aim to accelerate the development of regional NGV markets in 2 constituent entities of Russia at once – the Belgorod and Rostov regions. The key to success in this area is a comprehensive approach, which means, among other things, expanding the NGV refueling network, procuring modern motor vehicles, and providing incentives for owners of such vehicles. We are going to draw on the best national and international practices in this area,», said Viktor Zubkov.
