Gazprom gains access to Italy’s energy retail market

Gazprom has gained access to Italy's energy market after signing a strategic 30 year deal with energy company Eni. It follows years of negotiations between the two parties.

From next year Gazprom will start selling gas directly to consumers and expects to sell up to 3 billion cubic meters of gas in Italy's market by 2010.

Gazprom and Eni also announced that they are planning to co-operate on upstream projects in Russia.