OREANDA-NEWS. On 30 April 2008 was announced, that Transneft JSC and the Government of Khabarovsk region agreed changing of the route of second phase of ESPO pipeline system, which would be passing not southward as previously planned, but northward of city of Khabarovsk, Vice President of Transneft Mikhail Barkov informed.

According to the top executive, this will have an effect of increase of the route by another 120 km and by 20 billion US dollars in cost. But this will not have an effect on completion terms of ESPO second phase though. “  There will be no extension of construction time as we’ll relocate all machineries and send it to this site”, he said.

An instruction of Khabarovsk government gave a permission for Transneft to “build Skovorodino -  Kozmino section of the second phase of ESPO oil pipeline system  further to Khabarovsk with current of Amur river”.