You're reading: Gazprom to form gas joint ventures in Ukraine

MOSCOW Dec. 1 (Reuters) - Russia's Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftogaz have agreed to establish two joint ventures to extract gas from coal beds in Ukraine and develop Black Sea offshore deposits, Gazprom said on Wednesday.

Gazprom, Russia’s state gas export monopoly, did not provide further details but said the two companies’ chief executives had met and "discussed a further development of the strategic partnership between Gazprom and Naftogaz".

The statement came soon after Gazprom and Ukraine’s state energy company Naftogaz agreed to settle a gas dispute dating back to 2008-2009, reducing a potential threat to gas supplies from Russia to Europe.