Russian Energy Minister Alexander Gavrin flew into Baghdad on Monday and began talks with Iraqi officials on ways to promote oil cooperation.
Gavrin started a evening meeting with his Iraqi counterpart Amer Rashid and with State Oil Marketing Organization director Saddam Zaben, who is in charge of selling Iraqi crude.
Flying into Baghdad despite the international air embargo on Iraq, Gavrin led a 27-strong delegation that included representatives from the Russian oil firms Tranz Gaz and Zarubezhneft, along with the Gubkin Russian State University of Oil and Gas.
Gavrin told reporters he will hold talks in Baghdad on "problems of cooperation between Iraqi and Russian companies" in the oil sector.
The minister said talks would also focus on preparations for the next meeting of the joint Iraqi-Russian cooperation commission in Moscow, for which he did not give a date.—AFP.
©--Agence France Presse 2001.
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
