Igor Sechin News

Gazprom and Rosneft, Alexei Miller and Igor Sechin, will join President Vladimir Putin's retinue during his visit to China next month, sources familiar with the plans told Reuters. Putin is scheduled to meet China's President Xi Jinping for talks in Beijing and will attend the third Belt and Road Forum following an invitation from Xi during a high-profile visit to Moscow in March. The sources said other senior Russian energy officials would also be in the delegation. Sechin will hold his own energy event following Putin's visit, a source said, without providing details. Gazprom, the world's biggest natural gas producer, and Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil producer, did not immediately reply to requests for comments. Russia is bolstering its ties with Asia, especially economic powerhouse China, to offset reduced trade with Europe, its traditional buyer of oil and gas, over Moscow's actions in Ukraine. Chinese-Russian trade has soared since what Moscow calls a «special military operation» in Ukraine began in February 2022.

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