Russian gas giant Gazprom may participate in a tender to develop hydrocarbons on the southern shelf of Cyprus this spring, Georgiy Petrov, vice-president of Russia's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said on Friday, February 10.

"There will be a tender this spring. We know that ... Gazprom is interested in it. We would like to see the Russian companies with good experience in operations on the shelf at Cyprus," Petrov told reporters without saying if other Russian firms were going to bid for the shelf.

Petrov said at the sidelines of the forum that promising gas deposits were discovered in the Cypriot economic zone in the Mediterranean Sea.

Cyprus President Demetris Christofias said during the Russian-Cypriot investment forum that the country expected the Russian energy firms would be interested in shelf development, RIA Novosti reported.