MND and Gazprom to Build Czech Gas Storage Facility

Gazprom and MND Group have announced plans to to build a new gas storage facility in the Czech Republic.

The underground facility in Damborice, in the South Moravian region of the Czech Republic, would have an active capacity of 448 million cubic meters and will be "one of the largest facilities of its kind in the Czech Republic," said Gazprom, which supplied the Czech Republic with 7.28 billion cubic meters of gas in 2012.

Gazprom and MND will be equal partners in the project that has an estimated costs of $128 million.  Construction will commence in 2014 with start up projected for 2016.

Chairman of MND Group's board of directors Karel Komarek added in the statement that the companies are planning "new joint projects, not only in the Czech Republic, but also elsewhere in Europe and in the Russian Federation."

"Increasing the reliability of supplies of natural gas to Europe is our long-term strategy and expanding our capacity in terms of underground storage facilities is an important element of that," Gazprom deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said, according to the company's statement.