Select font Arial Times New Roman
Character spacing (Kerning): Standard Medium Large
State Council /
A meeting of the State Council Commission on Energy was held as part of Russian Energy Week under the chairmanship of Igor Levitin, Aide to the President of Russia and Secretary of the State Council, and Sergei Tsivilyov, Governor of the Kemerovo Region, Kuzbass, to discuss the development of the natural gas motor fuel (NGV) market, construction of fuelling infrastructure and conversion of vehicles and machinery to NGVs.
The meeting was attended by Governor of the Irkutsk Region Igor Kobzev, Governor of the Tomsk Region Vladimir Mazur, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Energy Pavel Zavalny, First Deputy Minister of Energy Pavel Sorokin, First Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Konstantin Tsyganov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Albert Karimov, and representatives of related federal and regional executive authorities, and the business and expert communities.
In his opening remarks, Igor Levitin noted that the introduction of natural gas-fuelled vehicles is one of the priority tasks of the state policy aimed at reducing the cost of transport, increasing the competitiveness of Russian companies and reducing the negative impact of transport on the environment. Igor Levitin drew attention to the fact that the President of the Russian Federation has repeatedly given instructions to expand the use of natural gas as a motor fuel, but they have not been fulfilled to date, which reduces the NGV market growth rate.
Sergei Tsivilyov stressed that it was necessary to expand the use of natural gas for all types of vehicles: heavy-duty motor vehicles, railway and water transport, transport and equipment for the mining industry and agriculture. At the same time, all regions should have access to state support measures provided for the development of the NGV fuel market. In addition, the necessary infrastructure and services need to be created and administrative barriers preventing the construction of gas fuelling stations and conversion of vehicles to natural gas should be removed.
Pavel Zavalny spoke about additional state support measures, such as subsidies, soft loans and leasing programmes for the production of NGV equipment, including for agricultural needs, as well as to encourage vehicle conversion to natural gas-based motor fuel.
The meeting participants discussed the prospects for NGV industry development and worked out proposals to be submitted to the relevant federal and regional authorities.
October 12, 2023