KIEV, Sept. 7 – Ukraine’s Antimonopoly Committee has permitted Italy's Eni S.p.A to acquire a 50.01% stake in Zakhidgazinvest LLC (Ivano-Frankivsk region), which has licenses to develop nine shale gas fields in Lviv region with total area of around 3,800 square kilometers.

Earlier Eni S.p.A signed an agreement with national joint-stock company Nadra Ukrayiny and Britain's Cadogan Petroleum plc on the acquisition of a controlling stake in Zakhidgazinvest. The agreement was developed within the frameworks of a memorandum of understanding between Eni and Nadra Ukrayiny, as well as a cooperation agreement with Cadogan Petroleum, both of which were signed in 2011.