Russia's state-controlled natural gas company Gazprom is interested in investing in the energy market in the Netherlands, Dutch Economics Affairs Minister Laurens Jan Brinkhorst said on Monday.

Brinkhorst told Dutch-speaking BNR News Radio that there was no question of Gazprom wanting to take over a Dutch energy company. However, he declined to make further disclosure.

Gazprom was at the center of a dispute between Russia and Ukraine about the supply of gas last year.

And on Monday Gazprom denied it had threatened to cut off the supply of gas to Europe after its CEO Alexei Miller said last week that the gas giant might switch to new markets in Asia and the United States.

Brinkhorst told BNR there was no reason for scaremongering about Gazprom and he declined to accept the characterization of the Russian company as a "bunch of thieves".

The minister said there has been a relationship between Russia and West Europe for years in relation to the supply of natural gas "without so much as a kink in the pipes".

Source: Xinhua