TEHRAN, Dec. 23 (Shana) � Officials from National Iranian Gas Company (NIGC) and Russian firm Gazprom started the first round of bilateral meetings here on Thursday to negotiate implementation of agreements reached on joint engineering, operation, commercial, and research projects, said an official.

�NIGC and Gazprom will hold several rounds of talks to review cooperation areas under five committees,� said NIGC director of international relations, Azizollah Ramezani.

The 25-member visiting delegation is headed by Alexander Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Management Committee of Russian energy company, he added.

By SHANA