OREANDA-NEWS. October 3, 2007. OJSC Chelyabinskgorgaz (a unit of GAZEX gas holding company, IES-Holding) is completing collection of data gathered in the course of inspection of the 25-kilometer-long steel underground gas pipelines laid in 1967. All information on the technical condition of the pipe and its cathodic protection is being forwarded to LLC Prombezopasnost that will determine the remaining operational life of each pipeline and fix the date of the next inspection.

The current Safety Regulations for Gas Distribution and Consumption Systems developed by the Russian Federal Service for Ecological, Technical and Atomic Supervision (Rostekhnadzor of Russia) provide for a 40-year guaranteed performance period for underground pipelines, which are to be inspected by independent specialized organizations licensed by Rostekhnadzor of Russia.

Chelyabinskgorgaz has almost a 50-year record of interrupted natural and liquefied gas supplies for the regional center and Sosnovsky and Kunashaksky districts. It also constructs and operates gas-distribution networks in Chelyabinsk.