German Energy Minister to negotiate in Moscow RF energy supplies

BERLIN, May 31 (Itar-Tass) -- Germany's Vice Chancellor and Economy
Minister Philipp Roesler is coming to Russia on a brief visit.
It will be his first foreign trip in the new position.
Roesler will have meetings with First Deputy Prime Minister Igor
Shuvalov, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko, Minister of Economic Development
Elvira Nabiullina, and with Minister of Mass Media and Communications Igor
Shchegolev, German's economy ministry said. He will present Berlin's plans
to refuse gradually from nuclear energy. Following the latest accidents in
Japan, most German nuclear power plants will be closed before 2021. The
last one is to be stopped in late 2022. The first stage will stop seven
oldest nuclear power plants, which had been built before 1980.
With the major changes in Berlin's energy policies, German's
dependence on gas supplies from Russia is growing as Germany will build
gas electric plants to replace nuclear power stations. Now, gas supplies
from Russia cover 32 percent of Germany's demand, eleven percent are
produced domestically. Another 29 percent are imported from Norway, 22
percent - from the Netherlands.
Besides, Roesler will take part in an economic conference, where he
will present suggestions from German companies on modernisation of Russia'
s infrastructures. In 2010, Germany's export to Russia grew by 28 percent
to 26.4 billion euros.