Above all, we are interested in the mutual ownership of assets, for one, when foreign companies own part of extraction in Russia, while Russian companies own part of processing industries in Europe.

Our European partners ... promised to amend the document immediately.

In the law on subsoil use there will only be four deposits with limited access [to them]. The rest will be open to foreign companies working in joint ventures with Russian companies.

The proposed bill will only restrict access to four mineral deposits, while in all other cases foreign companies will be able to create joint ventures with Russian firms.

Having this tension is okay, it's a problem with any growth.

We need European and all foreign companies to be able to invest in upstream in Russia, and for Russian companies to be able to invest in downstream to provide transparency. Companies need to have a right to invest openly without any restrictions imposed by the state.

It is clear that bird flu will bring appalling statistics to the economies. The epidemic must not be allowed to evolve into a pandemic, this is the most important thing.

We do not want to create the impression that we are refusing to ratify [the treaty], and we believe we can fully meet our international commitments. But we will not ratify the Energy Charter until it has been amended.

We share the tenets of the Energy Charter Treaty, and will be ready to ratify it after we have coordinated previously agreed amendments with our partners.