Gazprom wants E.ON's Hungary assets for Siberia stake

OAO Gazprom, the world's biggest natural-gas producer, is seeking to acquire from E.ON AG some of its Hungarian assets in return for giving E.ON a stake in a Siberian gas project. Gazprom is in exclusive talks with E.ON about selling a stake in Yuzhno-Russkoye field, which holds 1.2 trillion cubic meters of gas, Gazprom Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller said today after the company's annual general shareholders meeting in Moscow. Gazprom already agreed to an asset swap that will give BASF AG a stake in Yuzhno-Russkoye. E.ON has offered to swap some of its Hungarian assets for a stake in Yuzhno-Russkoye. E.ON, which owns a 6.4% stake in Gazprom, aims to produce as much as 20% of the gas it sells to others, as prices for the fuel rise. Miller also said Gazprom is interested in buying a stake in Mol Rt., Hungary's largest oil and energy company and other assets in the country, including power-industry businesses. Mol spokesman, Denis Mohorovic, could not immediately comment. (Bg)