Official: Crimea wants Gazprom to develop local oil, gas fields

MOSCOW, Mar 13 (PRIME) -- The authorities of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, whose parliament has voted to break away from Ukraine, have taken under control local oil and gas deposits, and want Russia’s Gazprom to develop them, the Supreme Council’s Speaker Vladimir Konstantinov said, RIA Novosti reported on Thursday.

The republic’s authorities now control the Odesskoye and Bezymyannoye deposits located in the Black and Azov seas and oil platforms owned by Ukraine’s state-owned Chernomorneftegaz.

“These deposits and rigs will fully belong to the Republic of Crimea. We are already safeguarding them. These deposits are ours, and we will fight for them,” Konstantinov said.

Crimea will hold a referendum on becoming part of Russia on March 16.

All state property in the region will be taken over by the local authorities, he said. “The state property owned by Ukraine as a state will be taken in Crimea’s ownership, while private assets will remain private. Sure, Chernomorneftegaz will be Crimea’s, Massandra and other state-run wineries will be Crimea’s as well,” Konstantinov also said.

Konstantinov separately said that Crimea will be connected to the Russian power grids before 2017.

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