Russian President Vladimir Putin (centre) attends a signing of documents between Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei (left), the Minister of Energy of the United Arab Emirates and President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mubadala Petroleum Co and Igor Sechin, Chairman of the Management Board and Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC Rosneft, at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Russia. The SPIEF — or ‘Russia’s Davos’ as the annual confab has been dubbed — is supposed to be a showcase for President Putin and his country’s huge raw materials-based economy.
St Petersburg: Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said yesterday a route to supply gas to China via western Siberia may be implemented faster than the eastern route, through which Moscow has agreed to ship the fuel to its Asian neighbour.
Moscow and Beijing clinched a $400bn gas deal last week after years of talks, which will help Russia to diversify gas supplies away from Europe, its main export market. “The second project, if Chinese partners are positive towards it, may be implemented even faster than the eastern one,” Putin said yesterday.
State-run Gazprom has yet to build a pipeline to carry 38 billion cubic metres of gas annually to China from 2018 through East Siberia. Russia and China have agreed a $25bn prepayment under a supply deal, Alexander Medvedev, the head of Gazprom’s exporting arm, said on Friday.
Gazprom had planned to supply a further 30 billion cubic metres of gas per year to China through the western route.
Putin said yesterday the possible amount of gas for this route has yet to be decided. Reuters
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