Contract on gas supplies to China through Western Route to be signed within few months - Gazprom CEO

MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/. Chief Executive Officer of Russia's gas giant Gazprom Alexei Miller expects the contract for the supply of Russian gas through the Western Route will be signed with China within a few months. Miller reported on the preparation of the contract at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday. "Over a dozen articles of the upcoming contract have been approved, in particular in the regards to the 30-year term of gas supplies to China, and the annual contract quantity, the construction period. We agreed on a number of points of delivery and gas quality specifications," Miller said. The schedule of negotiations on the Western Route is comparable with the similar schedule of contract negotiations on the Eastern Route, Gazprom CEO said. "It took about 8-9 months more to sign the contract. However, we agreed during negotiations with China to speed up work - the relevant impetus for negotiations will be given - and, furthermore, the experience we accumulated on the Eastern Route will definitely be strong sought for again," he added. "Certain provisions and certain clauses of the already effective contract may also be used for the Western Route," Gazprom CEO said. "As far as the major projects are concerned, the Power of Siberia [pipeline] is definitely the most important for us now," Miller said responding to the question of the Russian President concerning the implementation of Gazprom’s major projects. Construction of this pipeline was started in 2014. "We are proceeding strictly on track; absolutely no problems and everything is on the run," Miller added. "The Chinese party made a decision to start constructing its segment and the official groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of the gas pipeline segment on the territory of China will be held at the end of this month, in late June," Gazprom CEO said. Miller also informed Putin about his recent trip to China and the meeting with First Vice Premier of China Zhang Gaoli. "Negotiations were held and the questions of preparing the Western Route contract were also raised during negotiations," he said. Russia and China signed the agreement on framework conditions of natural gas supply to China through the Western Route. Gazprom is holding negotiations on settlements under the Western Route gas supplies in rubles and yuan, Miller said earlier. "The question of the contract currency is discussed and no final decision is taken," Miller said earlier. Read more