OREANDA-NEWS. Ukraine is willing to achieve energy independence through the increase of production of domestic energy resources - oil, gas and electricity. It was stated by the President at the meeting with heads of energy companies “Eni” (Italy) and “Electricite de France” (France).

In the course of the meeting, Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Eduard Stavytskyi and Chairman of the Board and CEO of “Electricite de France” Henri Proglio have signed the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Sphere of Gas Industry and Electricity.

“Ukraine is a state that has great ambitious plans regarding the increase of energy independence and production of gas and oil,” the Head of State noted at the beginning of the meeting.

He expressed confidence that Ukraine's cooperation with “Eni” and “Electricite de France” would be fruitful. “Combining our capabilities with yours is a very interesting project that can be extremely efficient,” Viktor Yanukovych said.

In his turn, CEO of “Eni” Paolo Scaroni noted that his company demonstrated the greatest activity in Ukraine on the production of gas from both traditional and non-traditional sources. Also, according to him, the company works with NJSC “Naftogaz of Ukraine” over rehabilitation of wells that have already been taken out of service. Paolo Scaroni confirmed the readiness of the company to work in Ukraine on further development of its energy sector. “We make our contribution to hydrocarbon production in your country. I would like to reaffirm our willingness to invest in Ukraine and assist it in the development of hydrocarbon production on its territory,” he said.

Chairman of the Board and CEO of “Electricite de France” Henri Proglio noted that his company had recently been working a lot with the Ministry over the development of its investment activity in Ukraine. According to him, Ukraine and “Electricite de France” have prospects of cooperation in nuclear energy.

“We are willing to focus our attention on the given sector. We are ready to enhance our cooperation in this sector in case Ukraine is willing to do that. We are also willing to develop our cooperation in the sphere of energy distribution. Also, I would like to reaffirm our readiness to develop cooperation in technological vectors not only in the sphere of energy, but also in the sphere of gas and to invest in Ukraine in order to create new jobs,” he said.