VZCZCXRO3806
PP RUEHDE
DE RUEHMO #3002 3451522
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111522Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5644
INFO RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 1975
RUEHNY/AMEMBASSY OSLO PRIORITY 1757
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI PRIORITY 0129

UNCLAS MOSCOW 003002 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/RUS, EEB/ESC HAMMANG, EEB/TFS BACKEYMEYER, AND 
NEA/IR WADHWANI 
DUBAI FOR IRPO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EPET ENRG ECON PREL ETTC RS IR
SUBJECT: RESPONSE TO IRAN SANCTIONS ACT INQUIRY 
 
REF: STATE 121808 
 
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MFA 
--- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Per reftel, we notified MFA Head of U.S.-Russia 
Bilateral Desk Alexander Zakharov of our inquiry regarding 
the ISA.  Zakharov said he would pass on the information to 
his superiors but otherwise did not provide any substantive 
reaction. 
 
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GAZPROM 
------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Per reftel, we asked Gazprom Director of Foreign 
Relations Ivan Zolotov (protect) about Gazprom's investments 
in Iran and notified him of our obligations under the ISA. 
Zolotov could not provide a specific value related to 
Gazprom's investments in Iran, but identified only one that 
would appear to trigger further investigation -- Gazprom's 
investment in Iran's South Pars gas field.  According to 
Zolotov, Gazprom entered into the project with France's 
Total, and Gazprom is the operator of the project.  Zolotov 
said he believes Total has now exited the project, and added 
that Iran has invited Gazprom to expand its activities 
related to the field.  Zolotov said he did not know how much 
Gazprom has invested in the field, but that it had received 
approximately $1 billion in revenues from the project thus 
far. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Zolotov said Gazprom has also had a role in the 
proposed Iran-India-Pakistan gas pipeline, but the project 
has not moved forward and no significant investments have yet 
been made.  He did not expect the project to be revived 
anytime soon.  He repeatedly stressed that Iran is not a 
priority for Gazprom and noted that Gazprom's sole 
representative in Iran will soon retire and is not expected 
to be replaced.  Zolotov said further inquiries into details 
of Gazprom's activities would have to be in writing and 
warned that such inquiries are likely to be poorly received 
by Gazprom management. 
 
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LUKOIL 
------ 
 
¶4. (SBU) A senior Lukoil representative told us in response 
to our inquiry per reftel that Lukoil's only investment in 
Iran is its stake (which he estimated at 20 - 25%, while 
assigning no monetary value) in an exploration project in the 
Amaran block.  The representative said Norway's Statoil is 
the operator and leader of the project.  According to our 
contact, Lukoil's role in the project has been as a service 
provider.  He said a discovery had been made, but that no 
further action had been taken to determine the commercial 
value or viability of the project.  He referred to the 
project as "dormant," adding that it is not in Lukoil's 
investment program for the coming year and is not on Lukoil's 
balance sheet.  He said Lukoil takes the ISA issue very 
seriously and that it would be happy to answer any further 
inquiries.  However, he explained that any inquiry requiring 
detailed answers would need to be in writing and that a 
response to such an inquiry would have to go through various 
offices in Lukoil, including the president's. 
Beyrle