Russian energy companies are ready to resume operation in Libya, Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko told the Rossiya 24 TV network.

He said consultations have been held with the country’s new authorities and representatives of the national oil company to discuss Russian companies’ gradual return to the Libyan market.

Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky earlier said the Ministry hoped that Russian companies will be able to resume operation in Libya by mid-2012. However, the Russian Ministry has no partner in Libya to settle the issue with, he added.

Libya’s new Prime Minister Abdurrahim al-Keib earlier said the new government will recognize all the contracts signed with Russia, as well as the previous international political agreements.

Russia hopes to create Eurasian Economic Union by 2015

Russia plans to intensify economic integration in the post-Soviet space and expects the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) with Belarus and Kazakhstan to come into existence by 2015, President Dmitry Medvedev said in December.

“The Common Economic Space of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan will launch on January 1, 2012, complementing the free movement of goods with that of services, capital, and workforce. The goal is to create the Eurasian Economic Union by 2015. This new structure will be designed to secure maximum efficiency of the member-countries’ economies and simple, practical, and tangible results for our citizens,” Medvedev said in his state of the nation address to the Russia’s parliament.

“We hope that this union will become a link between Europe and Asia-Pacific,” the President noted.

In November, the presidents of Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan signed a declaration on Eurasian economic integration, a roadmap of integration aimed at creating the Eurasian Economic Union, which will be based on the three countries’ Customs Union and Common Economic Space.

After the summit, Dmitry Medvedev said that he did not rule out the possibility that the EEU might be established even before 2015.