The roots of the relationship, which began in 1969, go back to the development of gas supplies in the '70s, which opened the chapter of the internationalisation of the European gas market and the beginning of joint international initiatives between Eni and Gazprom at the end of the '90s.

It was precisely this long history of industrial success and mutual trust that enables us to build and strengthen a relationship that was to make Eni the leading gas operator in Europe.

Naturally, over the years, much has changed. Many walls have fallen, globalisation has made the markets more competitive and the energy requirements of advanced economies have grown.

But, since the time when Enrico Mattei inaugurated the first energy agreements between the two countries we have never lost contact with Russia. We have continued to work together and in all these years Gazprom has never once failed to meet its commercial commitments.

Nevertheless, friendships need to be cultivated and that is why 2006 was a decisive year for us. On 14 November a historic strategic agreement was signed in Moscow that signalled the beginning of an international alliance for the development of common upstream, midstream and downstream gas projects as well as for technological cooperation.

An agreement that was made possible by the unique relationship we have and which marked a significant milestone for the security of energy supplies for Italy and for Europe.

It is in the same light that our involvement in Russian upstream activities, with the acquisition of important gas assets in Siberia, should be seen.

Eni was only able to achieve this result thanks to both its recognised competence and the established links characterised by regard and cooperation that have always linked us to Gazprom.

Eni and Gazprom are also working together on another important project: South Stream, a system of gas pipelines that will be able to deliver Russian gas to Europe passing under the Black Sea. This project is a further stage in the agreement of 2006 and a decisive step in reinforcing the security of energy supplies for the whole of Europe.

In short, Russia and Europe have everything to gain and nothing to lose through cooperation. And it is in this spirit of reciprocal opportunity that we intend to develop and strengthen our relationship with Russia.
My dear friends, despite the views of speculative spirits and free thinkers, friends do exist.

The challenge
Between 1957 and 1958, Eni, at the height of its expansion and search for new international contacts and new forms of cooperation, turned its attention to the Soviet Union. The country, which was among the major oil producers and was geographically close to Italy, was at that time seen as a distant and unapproachable planet.

In this climate Enrico Mattei threw down and authentic challenge by signing, in 1960, a multi-year agreement with Russia for the import of Russian crude oil in exchange for Italian machinery and technology.
This was the start of the long cooperation between the two countries. A subsequent visit by Marcello Boldrini and his associates to the Trade Ministry run by Nicolai Patolicev was arranged to underline the success of the 1960 contracts and to discuss future opportunities.

Innovation
Contacts and cooperation between Eni and Gazprom continued during the Sixties. Less than ten years from the signing of the first contract, on 10 December 1969, a new agreement was reached. But this time it was not oil that was the object of the contract, but natural gas.

This was an important innovation. It gave Italy the opportunity to diversify is energy sources and to increase its international competitiveness. Meanwhile, the USSR, with new supplies of Italian technology, was able to develop and modernise its industrial system. Moreover, in 1971, construction was begun on a large gas pipeline that would unite the two countries and which was inaugurated in 1974.
But there were also other projects that united Eni and Gazprom for the future, all of them in the gas sector and involving the exchange of know-how and the joint development of new technologies.

Synergies
The roads taken by Italy and Russia, and by Eni and Gazprom, run parallel in the pursuit of an international market and an increasingly sophisticated industrial system. On the strength of the success and solidity of the 1969 agreement, in 1975 the two companies stipulated the first renewal of the natural gas contract.

Two more were to follow, in 1986 and 1996, and the exchange of natural gas, goods and equipment continued to expand over the years.
Significant volumes of gas flow through the pipelines from Russia to Italy, over a dense network built on the basis of leading-edge Italian technology. The synergies between the two partners is completed by the consolidation of trade relations and the development of wide-ranging technical and scientific cooperation.

Cooperation
At the end of the 1990s, Eni and Gazprom were engaged in a new and ambitious project that led, in 2002, to the construction of the Blue Stream pipeline, which transports gas from Russia across the Black Sea.

The new millennium began with a number of important agreements between the two companies, culminating in the agreement of 2006 for the extension of gas supplies to 2035.
The now consolidated cooperation between the two partners is always looking to the future in an association that has expanded to include joint initiatives in the arts and culture, in sport, in social initiatives and the training of qualified personnel in the oil and gas sector.
The Eni-Gazprom link in the gas sector is celebrating its 40th anniversary with the announcement of another extraordinary project: the construction of the maxi-pipeline South Stream.