Russ Oil-Gas

MOSCOW, January 25 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's state-run gas giant Gazprom and OMV, an Austrian oil and gas company, signed a cooperation agreement in Vienna to set up a gas trading platform and storage facility in Europe. The agreement signed by Alexander Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Gazprom management committee, and Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer, OMV's CEO, will give Gazprom a 50% stake in one of the largest gas hubs in Europe - the Central European Gas Hub (CEGH) in Baumgarten, Austria. "The agreement signed with OMV is a substantial contribution to securing natural gas supplies to Europe," Medvedev said. OMV Gas International deals with the group's activities in the natural gas sector and is focused on marketing, trading and logistics. The CEGH in Baumgarten was established as a logistical and commercial trading platform by OMV and has a capacity of 1.3 billion cu meters per month. The agreement is based on the Memorandum of Understanding signed in May, 2007 by Ruttenstorfer and Alexei Miller, Gazprom CEO, during a visit to Austria by Russian President Vladimir Putin.