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Gazprom's Miller is in Iran

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Miller met Iranian oil minister

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Putin preparing for visit to China

(Recasts headline and lead)

MOSCOW, May 15 (Reuters) - Gazprom CEO Alexei

Miller is on a working visit to Iran, his company said in a

statement on Wednesday, just as President Vladimir Putin

prepares to fly to China with a high-level delegation for talks

with Xi Jinping.

Iran's First Vice President Mohammad Mokhber met Miller,

who also met Iranian Oil Minister Javad Owji, Gazprom said.

"A Gazprom delegation headed by Chairman of the

Management Board Alexei Miller, is on a working visit to the

Islamic Republic of Iran," it said.

The apparent absence of Miller, a close Putin ally who

has run Gazprom since 2001, from the China trip was not

explained by Gazprom.

Gazprom, the world's largest natural gas company has

been badly hit by the loss of much of the European gas market.

It plunged to a net loss of 629 billion roubles ($6.9 billion)

in 2023, its first annual loss in more than 20 years, amid

dwindling gas trade with Europe, once its main sales market.

Russia has been in talks for years about building the

Power of Siberia-2 pipeline to carry 50 billion cubic metres of

natural gas a year from the Yamal region in northern Russia to

China via Mongolia.

Its capacity would be almost as much as the now idle

Nord Stream 1 pipeline under the Baltic Sea that was damaged by

explosions in 2022.