Agreement on "western route" unlikely to be signed during Putin’s visit to China

MOSCOW, August 31. /TASS/. The agreement on "western route" is unlikely to be signed during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China on September 2-3, 2015, Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said on Monday. "Currently, right at this present moment of time it’s unlikely," Ushakov said when answering the question whether the signing of the agreement on "western route" in China is planned. Meanwhile, the related negotiations are in full swing between the two sides, Presidential aide added. As TASS reported earlier Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said on August 27 that negotiations on contract for gas supplies from Russia to China via "western route" could be completed before the end of 2015. "We are currently in talks on the new delivery route - the "western route" with the delivery volume of about 30 bln cubic meters of gas per year. We expect that we will be able to complete the process this year," he said. Ushakov also said that Gazprom will sign a memorandum on gas supplies to China from Russia’s Far East with China National Petroleum Corporation /CNPC/ on September 3. The issue is about new extra volumes in addition to supplies over the "eastern" and "western" routes. Read more