President Ahmadinejad In Moscow With Intense Agenda

Moscow, July 2, IRNA – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived here Monday on a two-day visit to attend the second summit of the Gas Exporting Countries forum (GECF) scheduled to begin later in the day. President Ahmadinejad was welcomed at the airport by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Igor Vladimirovich Morgulov as well as Iranˈs ambassador to Russia. During his stay, Ahmadinejad will follow up an intense agenda including a meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Both presidents are to discuss issues of mutual interest including the situation in Central Asia, Caucasus, Syria and the Caspian Sea regions. On the sidelines of the GECF summit, the Iranian President is to hold separate meetings with heads of participating delegates including Prime Minister of Iraq Nouri Al-Maliki and President Evo Morales of Bolivia. President Ahmadinejad is also to attend a ceremony at the Embassy of Venezuela in Moscow to commemorate the late president Hugo Chavez. He is also to meet a group of Iranians residing in Moscow as well as a group of Russian elites. In related developments, President Ahmadinejad will attend a press conference in the Russian capital. The GECF is an intergovernmental organization of 11 world leading natural gas producers made up of Algeria, Bolivia, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Iran, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Russia, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela. The agenda of the summit covers a number of issues including current developments of world gas markets; the situation of the gas industry in general and in the member states in particular; the views of the member countries regarding their own as well as the consumersˈ energy and gas policies and the current and future status of GECF. The GECF members together control over 70% of the worlds natural gas reserves, 38% of the pipeline trade and 85% of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) production. The three largest reserve-holders in the GECF – Russia, Iran and Qatar – together hold about 57% of global gas. A final declaration is to be issued at the end of the summit. The ministerial meeting of the GECF was held on Saturday with the presence of Iranˈs Oil Minister Rostam Qasemi./end