VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
“The Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station has seen its fifth hydropower generation unit come into operation. Importantly, this new unit was built after the accident to more advanced specifications, including higher safety standards and increased reliability. The plan is to replace all the plant’s 10 turbines over the next three years. Some of the new units have already been delivered to the plant, and are waiting to be installed. The overhauled plant will come back on stream by the end of 2014.”
“Gas has reached Primorye and will be used to develop the region, directly serving the interests of the Russians who live here. <…> Next year we will launch one more large energy project: we will lay a gas pipeline from Yakutia in order to increase the energy security of the region and to enhance its stability.”
“The amount of gas that will be supplied is comparable to the energy produced by 11 nuclear power stations. This means that 55 billion cubic metres will be delivered annually for 50 years, and this is a significant contribution both to the European and global energy sector, while at the same time adhering to the most up-to-date environmental standards.”
“I am very pleased that the company Rosneft has joined today to sign a strategic partnership agreement with one of the world’s leaders on this market, ExxonMobil. This project promises to be highly interesting and ambitious. Today's event is sure to receive a positive reaction from the world energy markets; Exxon’s exploration of Russia’s strategic continental and deep water shelf will open new horizons.”
“The South Stream project is not connected with gas prices in any way. <…> We are suggesting that a pipeline be built from the Russian shore to Bulgaria to fully guarantee unbroken supplies to Bulgaria and all of Southern Europe. That’s what this is about: to reduce transit risks to the lowest possible or eliminate them entirely. To this end, upgrading the infrastructure is the main thing.”
“As far as Nabucco is concerned, I have repeatedly said and will continue to say that if someone completes an economic feasibility study of this project, and if this study can form the foundation of this project, then Godspeed, let the project move forward. But we realise that Azerbaijani gas will not be enough to fill the Nabucco pipeline to capacity.”
“Before building something you first need to sign a supply contract. Building a pipeline without any contracts is senseless and highly risky. No one in this business would do that. Please, name at least one contract that has been signed under the Nabucco project. We can sign such contracts for the South Stream but I do not see anybody who would be keen to do the same under Nabucco. However, this does not mean that the project is impossible to implement. Who knows, the situation in Europe may change, Europe could start consuming so much natural gas, that demand would grow so fast that European consumers would cling to any opportunity. Then it would make sense to consider alternative routes. I believe that this is still premature.”
"South Stream is becoming truly pan-European and a major energy project. We signed a concluding agreement with all the European partners that are necessary for the implementation of this project."
"Russia has never and will never, I would like to draw your attention - will never - disrupt supplies. Transit country problems are alone to blame for whatever disruptions there are, but I rely on Ukraine-our partner, friend and main transiter-to comply with its contractual obligations in conformity with last January's agreement. There is a contract for natural gas supplies to Ukraine and another, with a ten year term, for Russian natural gas transits to Europe. Every obligation is to be complied with. Russia will not be the cause of any problem if the transit countries are true to their pledges."
"Extending the Druzhba (Friendship) Pipeline is also bound to promote our energy cooperation. We discussed this idea in detail today. I am referring to the branch of the pipeline from Bratislava to the oil refinery in Schwechat, near Vienna. Our Austrian and Slovakian partners will work together on this project. This will require a certain amount of effort on our part as well as additional study, but we are ready to work together."
"Nothing has changed in the principles of building up today's economy. Competitiveness is always the first priority. If energy cooperation and Nord Stream provide for the competitiveness of the economies of Germany and Russia, if we supply relatively cheap gas to the market - because pipeline gas is always cheaper than liquefied - then this will contribute to the stability and competitiveness of the German economy. Who would refuse such an opportunity? Nobody would ever give that up. And rightly so. I hope that nobody will give it up. Today, when dealing with a unified Europe, we must be patient and obtain the necessary permits from countries the exclusive economic zones of which the pipeline system traverses. We must convince them of the project's expediency. I hope that we will be able to do this."
"Whether Nord Stream will be built or not, and I think that it will be, I'm confident of that - it's actually just a detail. Of course, it is important, but from the point of view of intergovernmental relations, it is a small detail. After all, sometime in the 1960s, we started building our gas system specifically tailored to meet the needs of consumers in the FRG. And at the time some countries put enormous pressure on the FRG to abandon these plans. But even in the middle of the Cold War, when the construction of the Berlin Wall began, the German government was conscious of its national interests, did not cave in to the pressure and saw this project through to the end. Surely, today we won't cave in to any kind of pressure in view of the clear interest of the German and Russian economies in this cooperation? In the modern world, many things will be resolved differently. Even so, interests take precedence, and applying pressure, whether military, political, economic, diplomatic or any other kind of pressure, has no prospects. Basically, that's the way it always was."
"South Stream spectacularly enhances Russian hydrocarbon supplies to Europe, promising sizeable extra exports with our Italian partners' participation. Eni and Gazprom have agreed to increase the amount of pumped gas from 31 billion cubic metres a year to 63."
"I know that Mr Schroeder, and the executive management of Nord Stream, are working very hard to move this project forward. The project is becoming ever more international and pan-European in scale. We are well aware of this, and have discussed this on several occasions. The European shortfall in energy supply will grow. That's why we must explain our position calmly and work on implementing this very important European project."
“I think the document we are referring to is unprofessional and insufficiently thought out, to put it mildly, because one cannot be serious in discussing such matters without the principal supplier's participation. The document also says that the volume of pumped gas should be the main incentive for lucrative investments. This is natural, since transit fees are a means of paying back the loan, but has anyone asked our opinion as to whether we can cope with such volumes of gas in the future, or whether we will do so?”
"What matters most, I stress, is that there is no way to arrange an increase of Russian gas exports without Russian participation. I hope this message is heard. We are willing to work constructively with all our partners the way we have repeatedly declared, and on the basis of principles that we have formulated and have been proceeding from in our work."
“We have made considerable loans to our other CIS partners. An application has been made to discuss the prospects with Ukraine, and we have posed the question to our European partners. As I have said, they replied that they had no spare money for Ukraine just now. However, we are continuing a dialogue with our Ukrainian and European partners, and we will discuss the issue later on.”
“The European Commission is paying ever greater attention to energy transport-in particular, natural gas piping via Ukraine. That is good, as is the attempt to put the gas transport operator under the control of international legal norms and regulations. I think we should, and can, support it.”
“Still, some problems remain unsettled, including the declaration you have mentioned. I have read it. It says that the normal performance of the gas piping system is an earnest of political stability in Ukraine and the European Union countries. However essential those matters might be, they should not acquire excessive political colouring. One should not take it too far. Next, though the declaration refers to the independence of the gas transport operator, its wording is too obscure to see what independence and from whom said independence is meant.”
“We have made sufficient loans to our CIS partners. Prospects for a loan to Ukraine are being discussed. We have called on our European partners at recent meetings of various levels to pool our efforts for a joint loan to Ukraine-to which the European Commission responded by saying it could not afford the loan. Does this mean someone is out to exploit the economic crisis to rob Ukraine of its gas piping system? If so, that is a bad way to settle the problem-I know how sensitive Ukraine is on the government holding of gas transport.”
