Putin speaks up for far east pipeline
August 29, 2005
President Vladimir Putin has defended Russia's planned 1.6mn b/d far east crude pipeline, which has been coming under increasing fire over environmental concerns.
Speaking last month, Putin stressed that the line which will deliver Russian crude to fast-growing markets in Asia-Pacific is of national importance. He compared it to the Baikal-Amur railway, a landmark Soviet-era infrastructure project in the far east.
Construction launch
The following day, Mikhail Chemakin, the head of Transneft Siberian subsidiary, Transsibneft, said that construction of the pipeline from east Siberia to the Pacific coast will be launched in December of this year. Earlier, the state-owned pipeline operator had avoided giving any specific timeframe for the project.
Putin stressed that the far east line will provide Russia with direct access to export markets, unlike Soviet-era oil and gas pipelines. He spoke in favour of dialogue with ecological groups, but stressed that this should not impede development of the state and its economy. The president also claimed that environmental concerns are often used to put pressure on Russia by other countries, citing the Primorsk terminal as an example.
Public hearings are being held in regions that the far east pipeline is scheduled to cross, into the possible negative impact of the route on the environment. The results of these hearings will be submitted to the government as a part of the project feasibility study, Transneft says.
At the start of June, the natural resources ministry warned that it could withdraw permission for the pipeline if Transneft laid the route closer to lake Baikal than stipulated in the project investment study. But sources at the pipeline operator say the company has come under fire as part of a campaign to ensure that financing for the line which could end up costing as much as $11.5bn will be controlled by a state-run body, like Vnesheconombank.
The first leg of the far east pipeline with a capacity of 600,000 b/d is scheduled to be built between Taishet in the Irkutsk region and Skovorodino in the Amur region by 2008, according to a government ruling. From Skovorodino, crude is supposed to be moved by rail to China and a new terminal at Perevoznaya bay on the Pacific, while Transneft completes a pipeline to Perevoznaya.
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