President Asif Ali Zardari during his upcoming visit to Russia will discuss a plan for the expansion of Pakistan Steel Mills Corporation (PSM) and Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline. Well-placed sources told Business Recorder here on Friday that the president decided to visit Russia after he received a formal invitation from Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
"The president to visit Russia from May 11 to 14. Russian companies have shown a keen interest in investing in PSM with the objective of doubling production capacity from 150,000 to three million tons", sources disclosed. PSM is a national asset and has run into huge losses in the last couple of years and the current government wants its recovery as soon as possible.
Two main Russian companies namely Gazprom Russia International and Lukoil Russia International are interested in construction of Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline. Gazprom is one of the world's largest energy companies. Its major business lines are geological exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing and marketing of hydrocarbons as well as generation and marketing of heat and electric power.
Lukoil Russia International owns 1.1% of global oil reserves and 2.3% of global oil production along with 17.8% of Russian oil production and 18.2% of Russian oil refining. It is the 3rd largest non-state publicly traded oil company world-wide by proven reserves of hydrocarbons.
According to the sources, President Zardari will hold detailed discussions with the Russian authorities on bilateral issues. "Russia is the top supplier of energy in the world and it is interested in enhancing cooperation to assist Pakistan in overcoming its energy shortage," sources added.
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