Gazprom head Alexander Medvedev signed a natural gas delivery contract to Romanian company Conef and discussed issues related to the transnational Nabucco pipeline with the Romanian authorities in Bucharest on Friday.

The contract involves the delivery of 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Conef in a period of 50 years.

Medvedev held talks on the Nabucco pipeline with Romanian Economy minister Codrut Seres as the Russian part is directly interested in the project.

And Gazprom officials also signed a partnership with Gaz de France on the building of a natural gas storage facility in the Eastern Romanian county of Neamt.

Construction works at the Nabucco project, aimed at delivering some 25 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Europe yearly, are due to begin in 2008 and end three years later. The project would cost some 4.6 billion euro and will include gas deliveries of 11 billion cubic meters to each of the transit countries.

According to Medvedev’s statements in Bucharest, Nabucco is uncounceivable unless Gazprom is considered to participate in the project, as the company is the main source of natural gas on the regional market.

The five companies involve in the Nabucco Gas Pipeline International consortium, which will coordinate the works, are OMV - Austria , MOL - Romania, Transgaz – Romania, Bulgargaz – Bulgaria and Botas – Turcia, all from the countries the pipeline will cross.

The pipeline will extend 457 kilometers on Romanian territory and Transgas will have to invest some 800 million euro to fund this section of the pipeline.