* Company officials will visit Romania for discussions this autumn
Russian giant "Gazpom" intends to operate on the natural gas market in Romania, Petru Buzescu, the company"s lawyer in Romania said yesterday.
The representatives of "Gazprom" will meet with the Romanian authorities starting this autumn, when they will come to the country for discussions, said Mircea Hodîrnău, the representative of "Romgaz" Mediaş.
"Gazprom Marketing & Trading Limited", fully owned by the "Gazprom" group, has received a license to supply natural gas in Romania, according to information published in the Official Gazette. The National Authority for the Regulation in the Energy Sector (ANRE) has issued this license for a period of five years. The company had already owned a gas supply license which was valid for a year and has just expired, according to Petru Buzescu. He said that at first, the company had obtained a license to trade electricity in Romania.
In February 2010, "Gazprom Marketing & Trading Limited" was admitted to trade on the markets administered by the OPCOM, together with "RE Power Generation", "Obedineni Energiini Targovtsi" and "Grenerg".
The company"s lawyer said that so far, the company hasn"t been very active on the domestic electricity market.
Incorporated in 2009, "Gazprom Marketing & Trading" has been registered in London, and specializes in trading energy, natural gas, oil and Liquefied Petroleum Gas.
"Gazprom" currently supplies Romania with natural gas, through two companies: WIEE (a joint venture between "Gazprom" and German group BASF, via "Wintershall") and "IMEX Oil", a company controlled by "Conef".
In the beginning of 2010, former minister of the Economy, Adriean Videanu, was saying that "Gazprom" had expressed its availability to negotiate with the Romanian authorities the direct importation of nat
