Russian Energy Minister Nikolai Shuliginov said at the Eastern Economic Forum that Russia and China intend to speed up negotiations on the "Far East Route" and the "Siberian Power 2" pipeline.

Shuliginov said: "China is our main partner in the East. The main projects under discussion with China now are the Far East Route and the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline. Both Moscow and Beijing want to speed up negotiations."

He added: "During the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, I had an exchange with representatives of a company that intends to build gas infrastructure in Mongolia and advocated that the construction work should start as soon as possible. So the process is going on. We are increasing the volume of gas in the Power of Siberia pipeline every year."

Gazprom supplies gas to China through the Power of Siberia pipeline. In 2022, 15.5 billion cubic meters of gas will be transported through the pipeline. With the implementation of the project, the supply will be increased annually, reaching 38 billion cubic meters per year by 2025. In addition, the construction of the "Power of Siberia 2" pipeline, which will transport 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year through Mongolia, is in preparation.

In early February 2022, Gazprom and CNPC signed a long-term contract for the annual export of 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas through the Far East pipeline. After the implementation of the project, the total supply of Russian natural gas to China will reach 48 billion cubic meters. Russian Prime Minister Mishustin said earlier that the implementation of the Russia-China cooperation agreement on gas supply from Russia to China via the Far East Route is beneficial to both countries and will further promote the development of Russia's Far East region. Editor/Xu Shengpeng