Russian Natural Gas Black Sea Pipeline Partners with French EDF

PARIS — Moscow signed several deals in autos and energy with French companies on Friday at a meeting described by Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as a breakthrough in economic ties between the countries.
There was, however, no decision on the most sensitive topic at the gathering of top government and business representatives at Rambouillet, outside Paris: whether France will sell to Russia a Mistral-class warship, which carries helicopters, troops and can serve as a mobile command center.

A possible deal on that was being examined, Prime Minister François Fillon of France said on Friday.

But in agreements reached on Friday, the French electricity giant EDF will take a 10 percent stake in the Gazprom natural gas pipeline South Stream, to run under the Black Sea, said the chief executive of Gazprom, Aleksei Miller. Another French utility, GDF Suez, announced progress in taking part in a separate proposed pipeline, Nord Stream, under the Baltic Sea.

Both pipelines would compete with Nabucco, a proposed pipeline backed by the United States and the European Union.

“It looks like pretty good time to be positioning yourself to enter Russia,” said François Heisbourg, special adviser of the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris. “Gas prices are down, the Russians are desperate for customers and their infrastructure needs are great.”

He said the French involvement in the pipelines would give Paris strategic options in the country’s natural gas supply, potentially a wise move in light of Russia’s decision to curb exports via Ukraine.

Separately, the French carmaker, Renault, confirmed a rescue plan for the Russian factory that makes Lada cars. The deal will pull the plant back from bankruptcy, but puts off until March questions of future ownership.

Renault, a Russian state company and a Moscow investment bank each own 25 percent of the Russian factory, known as Avtovaz. Under the agreement, Moscow will contribute 50 billion rubles ($1.7 billion) to pay down debt, and a regional government will pay the salaries of 14,600 laid-off Avtovaz workers shifted to a new subsidiary.

Renault had been pressured by the Russians to invest cash, but avoided doing so. Renault said it would provide Avtovaz the equivalent of 240 million euros ($359 million) in contributions via transfers, production machinery and technological expertise.

Igor Sechin, a deputy prime minister, said that Moscow would support Renault’s owning a controlling share but said that the French company had not yet decided if it wanted control. A decision on swapping debt or the value of technical aid for equity will be made in March, Igor Komarov, the president of Avtovaz, said, according to Interfax.

The two countries also have projects in mind for cooperation in the nuclear sector, despite the difficulty of talks on the issue, Reuters quoted Mr. Putin as saying.

French officials were taken aback by the announcement this year that Siemens of Germany would build nuclear reactors with Rosatom, the Russian atomic energy agency, rather than the French specialist Areva. Siemens sold its stake in Areva this year. Total, the French oil giant, said on Friday that it was expanding cooperation with the Russian state-owned company Zarubezhneft.

Total retains a 25 percent stake in the giant Shtokman field, expected to start production in 2014 to 2015, alongside Gazprom and Statoil.

Andrew E. Kramer reported from Moscow, and Matthew Saltmarsh from Paris.