Official website of the President of Russia

Transcripts   /

President of Russia Dmitry Medvedev: Ladies and Gentlemen, dear friends,

Today we are attending a truly significant event, a cause for celebration for everyone present.

I would like to start by congratulating everyone on the completion of Russia’s first liquefied natural gas production plant. This is a cutting-edge and absolutely modern production facility that meets the very highest standards.

We just watched the short film that spoke about how to carry out these kinds of projects, reconciling the two objectives – preserving Sakhalin’s unique natural environment while at the same time building the most advanced high-technology facilities for liquefied gas production.

This plant’s operation will without question contribute to the implementation of the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project. This is one of the world’s most advanced technology projects. It has strategic importance for Russia and also for a number of other countries, above all our foreign partners.

Russia is one of the world’s leading producers of natural gas, and I am sure that this new facility will bolster our gas supply capability and will generally strengthen Russia’s position as a global producer and supplier of energy resources.

This plant will also have a positive impact on international cooperation in the energy sector, which is especially important for us today. When running at full capacity, the plant will produce almost 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas, and will thus cover up to five percent of world supplies of this fuel.

Contracts for the plant’s output have been signed for decades ahead. This will all serve to strengthen Russia’s position as one of the biggest players on the energy market, and I make no secret of the fact that this makes us very happy.

Another important aspect is that the plant creates a base for developing related high-technology industries, and in this respect it lays a foundation for cooperation that will lead to the creation of new jobs and contribute to generally improving the social and economic situation in Sakhalin Region.

Russia is open for direct, honest and mutually advantageous cooperation in this area. One good example of this cooperation is the Sakhalin-2 project, in which Gapzrom, Shell, Mitsui, and Mitsubishi are working together. It gives me great pleasure to welcome here the heads of these companies, the honoured guests we have invited to this ceremony.

I would like to thank everyone who took part in the plant’s construction, everyone who helped to build this unique facility. We talked about this just before with our colleagues. There were up to 25,000 people working on the site at peak period. It was a big friendly international team that carried out this unique project.

I am sure that this project will make a big contribution to Sakhalin’s economic development, to the prosperity of the Far East as a whole, and to ensuring energy security in the Far East and in the world in general.

I wish you all success and all the very best.

My congratulations to you all!