ST. PETERSBURG, May 25. /TASS/. Exports of Russian gas to Europe sooner or later will be liberalized, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday.

Putin added that today five European companies participate in the Nord Stream 2 project. "If Total becomes the sixth company - this means direct participation in transporting gas from Russia," he said.

"Of course, we will think about liberalization of gas supplies via pipelines to Europe," Putin said. "We can indeed talk about this, we can discuss it. Sooner or later it will be done in an absolutely liberal regime," he added.

Discussion on the admission of independent gas producers to export market has been going on for a long time. Currently, Gazprom is the monopolist for gas export via pipelines.