(BelTA) - Chairman of the Board of OAO Gazprom Alexei Miller and First Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus Vladimir Semashko held a working meeting on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on 20 June, BelTA learned from Gazprom’s information service.

The parties discussed the cooperation of Belarus and Russia in the gas sector, the operation of Gazprom’s subsidiary Gazprom Transgaz Belarus and the development of the has transportation system in Belarus.

Special attention was paid to the promising project Yamal-Europe 2. The project feasibility study is expected to be ready by the end of this year. It was noted that the project has a number of competitive advantages. Only slight modernization of the gas transportation network in Belarus will be needed at the first stage of the project and this can be done in a very short time.

As was reported, in early April, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed Gazprom to revive the Yamal-Europe 2 gas pipeline project via Belarus for improving the reliability of gas supplies to Poland, Slovakia and Hungary. According to Gazprom, a possibility of the construction of a gas pipeline through Belarus for deliveries to Europe is being considered. Exploratory negotiations have shown the effectiveness of this project that can be completed in 2018-2019.