Brussels, 02/01/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has approved the creation of two joint ventures by Linde, a German firm active in medical and industrial gases, and Algerian gas company Sonatrach. This operation enables Sonatrach to exploit the helium present in the natural gas that it extracts in Algeria. The Commission decided that the deal did not pose any competition problems since the wholesale of helium is a starting business for the parties.