Contract to supply Russian gas to China not planned to be signed during Russian delegation visit to China in April - Deputy Prime Minister Dvorkovich

GORKI, February 25. /TASS/. The contract to supply Russian gas to China is being actively studied but it is not planned to be signed in April during the Russian delegation visit headed by Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich to China. "The document is not planned to be signed /in April - TASS/. There will be a meeting of co-chairs of the energy commission where we plan working consultations. Also, apart from the energy issue we will be discussing cooperation in the transport sphere. I know that intensive consultations on the Western route are being carried out now," Arkady Dvorkovich said Wednesday. It was earlier reported that the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller conducted negotiations on Russian gas supplies via the so-called Western route on February 13 during his visit to China. He then said that the gas pipeline project was near ready for construction. The new contract is being prepared for the supply of 30 billion cubic meters of gas per year. In November 2014, Russian gas giant Gazprom and China’s CNPC signed a memorandum on gas supplies from Russia to China via the Western route, which stipulates gas supplies from gas fields in Western Siberia via the Altai gas pipeline. The launch of direct supplies is planned for 2019. In May 2014, Gazprom and CNPC signed a $400 billion contract for gas supplies from Russia to China via the Eastern route for 30 years. The Eastern route stipulates supplies of 38 billion cubic meters of gas a year via the Power of Siberia pipeline. Read more