TAJIKISTAN'S PRESS, GAZRPOM DEPUTY CEO DISCUSS KOOPERATION

DUSHANBE, June 10 (Itar-Tass) - Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon and deputy CEO of the Russian natural gas giant Gazprom, Valery Golubev are due to have a meeting here Tuesday, in the course of which they will discuss practical steps under an agreement on cooperation between the government of this Central Asian country and the Russian corporation. According to Rakhmon's press service the sides plan signing an agreement on the principles of surveying the geology of mineral deposits in the areas holding promise in terms of natural gas development. Tajikistani Ministry of Industry and Energy says that Gazprom received the licenses for developing two large deposits of natural gas in the country's south and center /the regions of /Rengan and Sargazon/, where the estimated reserves of natural gas stand at 30 billion cubic meter and 30 billion cubic meters respectively. OAO Zarubezhneftegaz, a Gazprom subsidiary is an operator in both projects, and its President Viktor Gulyev is among the members of the delegation accompanying Golubev. Tajikistan, a country rich in mineral resources, has to buy 1.2 billion cubic meters in other countries annually. Most of the gas comes here from neighboring Uzbekistan.