Top officials at Russian energy giant Gazprom announced earlier this year that E.ON had offered the Russian company assets in its Hungarian gas units in exchange for a stake in Russia's Yuzhno-Russkoye gas field.
"We are in negotiations with Gazprom [on what we will offer for a stake in the gas field], but I cannot comment on any details at this point," Scholer said.
E.ON plans to re-brand the newly acquired Hungarian assets, trading firm MOL Foldgazellato and storage company MOL Foldgaztarolo, to E.ON Ruhrgas Foldgaz Trade and E.ON Ruhrgas Foldgaz Storage, likely in June, depending on the approval of relevant authorities.
E.ON bought 100% stakes in the two gas divisions for a total purchase price of EUR 300 mln, while also assuming the two gas companies' combined EUR 600 mln total debt toward MOL.
As the biggest player on Hungary's gas market, E.ON Ruhrgas aims to play an active role in preparations for the deregulation of the gas market, where full liberalization is scheduled to take place as of July 2007.
