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The recoverable reserves of the Kovykta field amount to 1.8 trillion cubic metres of gas and 65.7 million tonnes of gas condensate; the project’s estimated capacity is 27 billion cubic metres of gas per year.

Power of Siberia is a gas pipeline crossing Russia’s Irkutsk Region, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and the Amur Region. The gas pipeline from Blagoveshchensk to the Chinese border began operation in December 2019; later, an 800-kilometre link between Kovykta and Chayanda was built to connect the Kovykta field with the Power of Siberia pipeline.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, friends, good afternoon.

Today we are attending a special and significant event, which will benefit the domestic gas industry and the entire fuel and energy sector, as well as the national economy.

Irkutsk has become a new gas production centre on the map of the country. We are launching a unique gas condensate project, Kovykta, which is the largest gas field in Eastern Siberia. Its recoverable reserves amount to 1.8 trillion cubic metres.

An 800-kilometre pipeline connecting the Kovykta field with Chayanda in Yakutia has been built to transport the natural gas.

This new section has been added to the Power of Siberia gas pipeline, thereby putting into operation the entire length of our most important gas transportation route, which will exceed 3,000 kilometres.

In addition, Kovykta will also produce gas condensate, a highly valuable chemical raw material. A pipeline and railway infrastructure have been put in place to transport it.

I would like to note that the projected capacity of the Kovykta and Chayanda fields is more than 50 billion cubic metres of gas per year. This provides a strong resource base for the Amur Gas Processing Plant, one of the largest and most up-to-date in the world. Its technological facilities will produce ethane, propane, helium and other commodity items that enjoy demand in the chemical industry, in the utilities sector and other industries.

A powerful and strategically important production cluster is being created in eastern Russia. It includes natural gas production, transportation and processing.

Once operational, this new cluster will ensure a reliable supply of gas and gas products to Russian enterprises as well as our foreign partners. It will give a strong impetus to the socioeconomic development of eastern parts of Russia and create highly productive jobs.

We are joined here today by the teams, the specialists who should be credited for developing the Irkutsk gas production centre.

I would like to thank the geologists, engineers, builders, workers and managers for their dedicated work, high professionalism and for the result.

Congratulations on a great, without exaggeration, a landmark achievement. Wishing you every success in your further work.

It is my pleasure to give the floor to Alexei Miller.

Mr Miller, please.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller: Mr President,

Colleagues,

We are now at the Gazprom project management centre, which receives information on our company’s strategic projects. Here, on your monitors you can see information on our projects underway in east Siberia.

Mr President, as you have mentioned, today is a special day; we are launching a unique engineering and construction complex that comprises mining, transport and processing facilities. The priority facilities in the Kovykta field are ready for launch, as well as the Kovykta-Chayanda section of the Power of Siberia gas pipeline.

Today, a new and sustainable location will appear on the map of Russia – the new Kovykta field, the largest in eastern Siberia. Obviously, the launch of the entire Power of Siberia pipeline will open up new opportunities for distributing natural gas to the country’s eastern regions – eastern Siberia and the Far East.

The natural gas extracted at the Kovykta field is purified from moisture and mechanical impurities and then sent to the Chayandinskoye field via the Kovykta-Chayanda main gas pipeline, where it is mixed with Chayanda gas and is then sent further to the Amur Region.

Kovykta and Chayanda gas contains many valuable components – particularly helium, which is used in high-tech industries. Therefore, we are building the Amur Gas Processing Plant to produce new gas products. All of the plant’s facilities have been launched on schedule.

The facilities at the Kovykta field were built in a two-year period. I would like to particularly point out the construction of the gas treatment plant (CGTP-2). In this regard, we must pass on special words of gratitude to the workers there: this plant was built in unimaginable, extreme climatic and geological conditions and was built with the highest quality. Colleagues, many thanks to you for this.

The new Kovykta field and the entire 3,000-kilometre Power of Siberia pipeline provides us with new opportunities for social and economic development, as well as new opportunities for boosting exports. And obviously, it makes Russia a world leader in helium production.

(During the videoconference, video linkups were established with the new facilities that are being opened now. Connections were established with Deputy Board Chair and Gazprom Department Head Oleg Aksyutin, Governor of the Irkutsk Region Igor Kobzev and First Deputy General Director of the Gazstroiprom construction complex Mikhail Yeremin, who were visiting integrated gas treatment unit No. 2 at the Kovytka gas field; General Director of Gazprom Dobycha Noyabrsk Anton Dzhalyabov at the Chayandinskoye oil and gas field in Yakutia; General Director of Gazprom Pererabotka Blagoveshchensk Yury Lebedev at the Amur Gas Processing Plant; General Director of Gazprom Dobycha Irkutsk Andrei Tatarinov and General Director of Gazprom Transgaz Tomsk Vladislav Borodin, who was at the control room to operate integrated gas treatment unit No. 2 at the Kovytka gas field.)

Vladimir Putin: I would like to thank you, your colleagues, workers, engineers and technicians – all who have worked and continue to work there – for your achievements and for how you managed to complete this difficult task.

I would like to emphasise again that projects like this are extremely important for the country’s economy, for Russia and for strengthening its social and economic well-being in the broadest sense of the word. This is promising work, which is creating stability for the economy in general, not only in this region but the economy in general, and it boosts our export potential, and will undoubtedly offer more opportunities for the economic development of the regions in eastern Siberia and improve the living conditions for millions of people living in these regions.

Again, thank you very much. My best wishes and congratulations to all who have been involved in this work.

Mr Miller, of course, I also want to congratulate you again on achieving this result, and I wish your entire team every success and all the best in your work in 2023.

Thank you very much.

Alexei Miller: Thank you, Mr President.

Vladimir Putin: All the best to you.