The report said Uzbek President Islam Karimov will participate at the summit along with 15 heads of states and governments.

Among guests are the Sultan of Oman Qaboos ibn Sa’id and Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko, President of Turkey - Abdullah Gul, President of Turkmenistan - Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, President of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Kyrgyzstan - Kurmanbek Bakiyev.

The main task of the forum is to engage the main partners of the European Union into energy cooperation. The leaders of Europe and Asia will discuss the increasing needs of natural gas supply to Europe. The politicians will discuss the development of a new generation of legal cases for "mutual energy dependency".

The idea for the forum, headed Natural Gas for Europe: Security and Partnership, came from Bulgaria’s President Georgi Parvanov. A week ago Bulgaria’s PM Sergey Stanishev received European Commission President Jose Barroso’s support on the proposal that Sofia be ’appointed’ as the annual venue of a forum, that would make it something like the Balkan Davos on energy.

Analysts expect that the forum would become a battleground for gas exporters, middlemen and consumers. After the January gas crisis, the Bulgarian diplomacy is gaining ground by assembling countries that command the "blue fuel" deliveries to Europe, the report