Russian President Vladimir Putin praised gas giant Gazprom on Friday, saying the group would prosper despite Western efforts to reduce its influence as demand for gas in Asia grows.

Since Putin sent troops into Ukraine, the world’s largest natural gas company has faced falling natural gas sales in Europe as the West tries to reduce dependence on Russian energy and revenue for the Russian budget.

Gazprom, which owns about 15% of the world’s gas reserves and employs about 490,000 people, is one of Russia’s most powerful companies, so powerful that it was once called a state within a state.

Putin said all of Russia was proud of Gazprom, which was created as a joint-stock company 30 years ago from the assets of the Soviet gas ministry after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“Despite unfair competition, to put it bluntly, direct attempts from the outside to hinder and limit its development, Gazprom is moving forward, launching new projects,” Putin told CEO Oleksiy Miller via video link.

“In the last 30 years, global gas consumption has almost doubled, and in the next 20 years, according to experts, it will add at least 20 percent, and maybe even more,” Putin said.

Gazprom’s gas exports to Europe, its main source of revenue, plummeted last year to below Soviet lows amid the political fallout from the conflict in Ukraine and as the main Nord Stream gas pipeline was damaged by mysterious explosions.

Putin did not mention Nord Stream or European exports, saying that future gas demand will be determined by Asia.

“During the so-called transitional period, the demand will be enormous. Moreover, more than half of this increase will fall on the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, first of all, of course, on the People’s Republic of China, taking into account the growth rates of its economy,” Putin said.