OREANDA-NEWS. July 02, 2010. Khabarovsk hosted a working meeting between Alexander Ananenkov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Vyacheslav Shport, Governor of the Khabarovsk Krai as part of the business trip made by the Company’s expert group to the Far East.

The meeting addressed the progress with the Agreement of Cooperation and the Accord on Gasification entered into by Gazprom and the Khabarovsk Krai Government.

Alexander Ananenkov and Vyacheslav Shport addressed the issues of gas supply to and gasification of the region. It was noted that further activities would be based on the Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok gas transmission system (GTS) being built by Gazprom. The parties emphasized that GTS construction was carried out on schedule.

In addition, Alexander Ananenkov and Vyacheslav Shport discussed Gazprom’s participation in social projects in the Khabarovsk Krai, particularly, allocation of above RUB 700 million for constructing a number of social infrastructure facilities in the region.

Gazprom and the Khabarovsk Krai Government entered into the Agreement of Cooperation in April 2002 and extended it in November 2009. The Accord on Gasification was signed in December 2005.

The natural gas penetration level in the Khabarovsk Krai averages 14.4 per cent including 17 per cent in cities and towns and 0.2 per cent in the rural area. The identical figures throughout Russia amount to 63.2, 67.5 and 45.5 per cent accordingly.

In 2009 Gazprom worked out the General Scheme for gas supply to and gasification of the Khabarovsk Krai. In 2009 the Company allocated RUB 20 million to launch engineering and construction of three regional inter-settlement gas pipelines with the total length of 37 kilometers. RUB 90 million are slated for these operations in the current year.

The Sakhalin – Khabarovsk – Vladivostok GTS is a top priority of the Eastern Gas Program approved by the Russian Industry and Energy Ministry’s Order in September 2007. The project is targeted at improving gas supply to and gasification of the Far Eastern Federal Okrug. The GTS construction was initiated in July 2009, the first startup complex will be put onstream in the third quarter of 2011.