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The new tunnel is a 3.2-km long reinforced concrete structure with 9 pipelines. The facility was built to replace the tunnel that had been operated since 1967. It connects the Grushovaya and Sheskharis production sites and will become part of the Yug project.

During his visit to the Sheskharis oil terminal, the President saw a model of the technological tunnel that was commissioned and visited facilities of the Grushovaya technological site. He also studied information on the activities of the Transneft oil company, which operates main pipelines in Russia.

Earlier the same day, the President flew in a helicopter over a number of facilities comprising transport infrastructure of the Southern Federal District, including a bridge being built across the Kerch Strait.

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Speech at ceremony commissioning Grushovaya-Sheskharis technological tunnel

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, friends,

You are completing a large-scale reconstruction of the [Sheskharis] oil terminal. My colleagues have just told us of what you have built here in only 5 years – quite a lot of work has been done.

Today you are commissioning a key facility – the new technological tunnel with a pipeline. I would like to congratulate all those who took part in this grand-scale operation. This is truly a great event for the region, for Krasnodar Territory and for the entire industry.

I would like to note that you have been working in complicated geological conditions, and this required top professionalism on the part of all the participants and modern, interesting solutions. The tunnel replaces the old one, which has already exhausted its technological capacity and became the source of potential man-made and environmental threats. This is now in the past, and today we are attending a very pleasant event – the modernisation of the entire complex. This is actually not even modernisation, but a new construction.

The new pipeline does not simply connect production sites, it connects all the elements of the complex, holding together the entire operating procedure. This makes it possible to simplify and optimise the process of receiving, storing and uploading hydrocarbons and their further transportation via the port of Novorossiysk. It also guarantees high world standards of environmental and industrial safety in the loading of over 40 million tonnes of oil and petroleum products a year.

Such modernisation of production assets ensures efficient and stable operation of the facility and timely compliance by our suppliers with their commitments under export contracts. Our partners can rest assured that the plans will be implemented fully and absolutely.

This is an important contribution to the development of the national economy, of the country’s infrastructure, to the realisation of the great potential of Russia’s south. I would like to once again congratulate you all on this event and to wish you success.