Dushanbe hosted today a working meeting between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Emomali Rakhmon, President of the Republic of Tajikistan.

The meeting addressed the implementation of Gazprom's program aimed at searching for and exploring hydrocarbons in the Republic of Tajikistan.

Alexey Miller informed the Tajik President that drilling of the first exploratory well, Shakhrinav-1p, located in the Shakhrinav District of the Republic was started today. The well is expected to be the deepest one in the former USSR.

During negotiations it was emphasized that basing on the preliminary results of geological exploration, aggregate hydrocarbon reserves in the area would amount to at least 60 billion cubic meters of gas.

Alexey Miller underscored that the Tajik Government had created favorable conditions for Gazprom's operations and expressed confidence that the project implementation would mean an important step towards the energy security of Tajikistan.

In turn, Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon expressed his gratitude to Alexey Miller for the contribution made by the Russian Company to the energy sector development in Tajikistan.