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The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Presidential Aide Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, Minister of Energy Nikolai Shulginov and Chairman of NOVATEK Management Board Leonid Mikhelson.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues,

As agreed earlier, today we will discuss issues related to the development of the energy sector, including promising areas like the production of LNG – liquefied natural gas.

Before we start discussing issues on the agenda, I would like to congratulate all current and veteran workers of Russia’s oil and gas sector and the gas industry in general, on their professional holiday, which was marked yesterday, on September 3. I want to thank hundreds of thousands of people employed in this very important sector for their loyalty to the traditions of hard work, and their intense and effective work for the benefit of the whole country.

Your success, your significant achievements are making an enormous contribution to the development of the Russian economy and help ensure that large companies, small businesses and life support systems run smoothly, and that the needs of the domestic market are met reliably and in full.

Despite the blatantly hostile actions of some countries, illegitimate and endless restrictions and sanctions, the Russian energy sector, our oil and gas companies, in general, feel confident, are making good progress and are successfully handling the tasks set before them, including in foreign trade, finding new and reliable partners and remapping logistics routes.

Russia is implementing a range of major oil and gas exploration and processing projects that are crucial for the further development of the fuel and energy complex and many regions of the country. These projects include Vostok Oil, Yamal LNG, Arctic LNG 2, Amur Gas Processing Plant and Petrochemical Complex, and Sakhalin projects. New fields are being developed, such as the Kovyktinskoye deposit, which was launched in December 2022.

Our strategic oil and gas pipelines, including the Power of Siberia, ESPO and TurkStream, enjoy demand. I discussed this today with our colleagues from Turkiye. Given the good prospects for expanding cooperation with friendly countries, we are considering the possibility of speeding up the construction of the Far Eastern Route and the main gas pipeline Power of Siberia 2. A gas hub project in Turkiye is also being developed, and we discussed it with our colleagues today.

Overall, in the current challenging conditions, Russia has not only reaffirmed its energy self-sufficiency and independence, as well as resilience to external shocks, but also continues to hold key positions in the global energy sector. We are working confidently and self-sufficiently, without exaggeration.

At the same time, I want to emphasise that the main goal of the oil and gas industry, and the entire domestic energy sector, is to meet our country’s needs. This includes the interests of our economy and all Russian consumers, including entrepreneurs and businesses, as well as households. This task involves continuing the important gas infrastructure development programme, maintaining a balance between the efficiency of production, processing and retail sales, and ensuring the availability of corresponding products and services for industry and households while preventing significant price fluctuations.

These tasks need to be monitored at all times and addressed through dialogue with the business community.

Now, let us move on to the topic of our meeting today.

Let’s give the floor to NOVATEK CEO Leonid Mikhelson.

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