MOSCOW, June 7 The Federation Council on Wednesday ratified an agreement between Russia and China on cooperation in the field of natural gas supplies via the Far East route.
The document was signed on January 31, 2023, the agreement involves the construction of a cross-border section of the gas pipeline. It starts at a gas measuring station (GIS) in Russia near Dalnerechensk, passes through the Ussuri River and ends at the Hulin launch station in China (does not include GIS and launch station).
The agreement defines the main conditions for the design, construction and operation of the gas transportation infrastructure and natural gas supplies along the «Far East» route, including the cross-border section of the gas pipeline, Anastasia Bondarenko, Deputy Head of the Russian Ministry of Energy, said earlier. According to her, under the agreement, three authorized organizations have been identified: from the Russian side, this is PJSC Gazprom, and from the Chinese side, these are the China National Oil and Gas Corporation and the China National Pipeline Company.
In addition, the agreement provides for and regulates the procedure for passing personnel and equipment across the border without issuing visas, the procedure for carrying out customs operations when moving vehicles and technical means, the installation of a temporary cargo-and-passenger bilateral checkpoint, exemption from export customs duties and customs fees. Separately, the agreement noted the priority of settlements in rubles and yuan, Bondarenko said.
Earlier, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin noted that with the gas pipeline reaching its full capacity, Russian gas supplies to China will increase by 10 billion cubic meters per year. The implementation of the agreement will be beneficial to both parties and will give an additional impetus to the socio-economic and technological development of our Far Eastern regions, the prime minister stressed.
In early February 2022, Gazprom signed a long-term contract with the China National Oil and Gas Company for the export of 10 billion cubic meters of gas per year via the Far East route. The total volume of deliveries of the company after the implementation of the project according to the plan will increase to 48 billion cubic meters.
Gazprom is now supplying gas to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline. Export on it at the end of 2022 amounted to 15.5 billion cubic meters. As the project progresses, it is planned to annually increase the volume of supplies until reaching the design annual capacity of 38 billion cubic meters per year by 2025.