Rossiiskaya Gazeta: "Eastern scenario rests on cooperation"
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on energy news.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin completed his Chinese programme by talking to Russian journalists who were interested in gas supplies to China, sanctions against Iran, elections in Russia and many other problems.
Having started with energy, Mr Putin said it is not "worth becoming obsessed with gas and hydrocarbons." To confirm his words, he mentioned Rosatom as an example. Rosatom, the State Nuclear Energy Corporation, signed a contract to build the second stage of the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant. It transpired that Mr Putin takes special pride in the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) project.
"Probably few people believed that we will build such a pipeline in most complicated conditions. There is no transport, nor communications, nor power industry, nor electricity there. More than two thousand kilometres of a pipeline were built in a very short span of time, and this is not simply a pipeline but a sophisticated system with its entire infrastructure," Mr Putin said with satisfaction.
Speaking about gas supplies to China, Putin recalled two potential routes - western (38 billion cubic metres per year) and eastern (30 billion cubic metres per year). He said the western route could be implemented very quickly because the infrastructure is ready and there is no need for any additional investment.
"Last year, the production peak was 550 billion cubic metres, and the potential was 600 billion cubic metres and over. We know that now consumption has fallen but even if it goes up to the last year's level we can still maintain the resource potential without introducing anything new. We could sign contracts with our European partners and start supplying gas to China. We have even more opportunities for the future - we have not even started tapping Yamal's resource potential with its 50 trillion cubic metres. All in all, the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area has up to 125 trillion cubic metres of gas - a truly global reserve," Mr Putin said with admiration.
The eastern route base is located in Eastern Siberia, the Far East and on Sakhalin. "They also have an enormous reserve of 65 trillion cubic metres of gas. To sum up, in the western direction supplies could be launched before 2015, and in the eastern in 2017-2018," Mr Putin said.
Putin acknowledged that price formation on fuel is the most sensitive point of bilateral gas relations. "Chinese are very difficult negotiators. I don't know a single issue on which we didn't argue until we were hoarse, until the very last second," Mr Putin said and announced that the agreement had been reached and the price of gas would be tied up to the Asian oil basket.
Mr Putin said it would make sense to consider a possibility of selling our energy resources for roubles. "But this means that our Chinese partners should have these roubles. Experts must study this question." He promised that a meeting of the finance ministers and central bank CEOs of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will take place in Kazakhstan before long. Participants in this meeting will discuss transactions in supranational currency.
Mr Putin also shared one more piece of news with journalists - yesterday night Gazprom signed a contract with the Azerbaijani State Oil Company for the purchase of 500 million cubic metres of gas per year starting January 1, 2010.
"Objective facts are undermining Nabucco. You do understand where it is leading to, don't you?"
"To a raw materials power?" RG asked.
"What does a raw materials power have to do with it? We will send this gas to Russia's southern regions. It is better to buy in Azerbaijan than anywhere else," Mr Putin said.
Speaking about Iran, Mr Putin expressed himself against sanctions. "If we announce any sanctions, we will not create favourable conditions for a positive outcome," he said, adding that Russia's foreign policy is determined by President Dmitry Medvedev who is not adamant about sanctions.
Sidibe Pierre
