Russia-China gas pipeline to start in 2019

Russian deliveries of gas to China through the Power of Siberia gas pipeline are to start in December 2019, Gazprom announced on Tuesday.

The date was specified in a supplementary agreement signed by the chairmen of Gazprom and CNPC, Alexey Miller and Wang Yilin, in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin and and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow on Tuesday.

“The signing of this document is a crucial step in the implementation of the project, a step achieved by Gazprom and CNPC thanks to clear and concerted action on both sides of the border,” Miller said in a statement.

“Our work is strictly on schedule, even ahead of schedule regarding Power of Siberia. Russian gas supplies to China will come right on time.”

The original deal for the so-called eastern route, a 3,000-kilometre gas pipeline with an annual capacity of 38 bcm (1.34 tcf) running through Siberia, was struck in May 2014, following Western sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis.