14/06/2002 (Agence Europe) - Interfax states that the project of modernisation and the management of Russian gas transit to the EU, to be managed by a strategic investor composed in equal shares by Ukrainian, Russian and European gas companies, will require in the near future an additional $2.5 billion for the reconstruction of the gas transport systems across Ukraine, and over $15 billion over the next ten years (see EUROPE of 13 June, p.10, on the subject of the declarations by Commissioner Loyola de Palacio). The first EU country to have signed a cooperation agreement in the context of this consortium is Germany, and sources familiar with the dossier say that other European countries including France and Italy are soon expected to join the consortium. Furthermore, the US Ambassador in Kiev has reportedly not ruled out the possibility that the US will participate in the project.