OREANDA-NEWS.  Implementing a pilot project on introducing gas as motor fuel, Tatarstan will become the first Russian region with a CNG bus fleet.

President of Tatatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov and Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors Viktor Zubkov announced this news in Kazan at a meeting devoted to CNG development. They signed a memorandum of understanding between the Government of the Republic of Tatarstan, JSC Gazprom, OOO Gazprom gazomotornoe toplivo to promote the use of natural gas as motor fuel. The participants of the meeting discussed what problems arise from the introduction of this environmentally friendly fuel and developed solutions to them. By April 1, 2013, a working group of Tatarstan and Gazprom will have to submit a draft program for the CNG market development in the Republic of Tatarstan.

General Director of OJSC KAMAZ Sergey Kogogin, who also participated in the meeting, said that the company was ready to equip its automobile service centers with NGV service stations. He also suggested a number of measures to promote natural gas vehicles. The presentation demonstrated advantages of the use of CNG equipment produced by KAMAZ’s distributor – RariTEK. The company showed its popular models: the NEFAZ-5299-30-31 city bus, the NEFAZ-5299-11-31 suburban bus, the KAMAZ-65116 bolster-type tractor running on compressed and liquefied methane, the KS-55713-5K-1 automobile crane on the КАМАЗ-43118 gas-powered chassis (6х6), the KAMAZ-6520-35 and KAMAZ-65115-30 dump trucks, the BM-53229G-1 garbage truck, the KO-505AG vacuum machine. The participants of the meeting noted that CNG equipment was widely used in various industries.

Viktor Zubkov gave a number of examples which proved that the use of gas as motor fuel instead of gasoline and diesel fuel is economically efficient and environmentally friendly. “Gazprom suggested developing an infrastructure for NGVs in all regions of the Russian Federation,” he noted. “54 regions agreed to cooperate with us. We established Gazprom gazomotornoe toplivo, chose 10 pilot regions, Tatarstan being at the top of the list.”

Rustam Minnikhanov also noted that gas as motor fuel is widely used all over the world. “There is a vehicle producer (OJSC KAMAZ) and CNG equipment producer (OOO RariTEK) in Tatarstan. And above all it is economically reasonable,” Tatarstan’s President said. “But the introduction of gas as motor fuel requires solid investments in the infrastructure.”