Power of Siberia

Russia and China have reached an agreement on the Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline, which will connect Siberia to northwest China, President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

"All agreements have been reached," Putin said, adding that economic cooperation between Moscow and Beijing was a "priority" for Russia.

Bulgaria is considering joining Russia's TurkStream 2 pipeline proposal and, according to the country's Ministry of Energy, is ready to invest €1.4 billion ($1.6 billion) in the project, reported DW. 

TurkStream gas pipeline is set to become fully operational by the end of 2019, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

Russia will start supplying gas to China through a new pipeline by the end of 2019, state gas giant Gazprom said on July 4, as part of a mammoth $400-billion deal.

"Today a deal was signed...about the date of the start of gas deliveries through the 'Power of Siberia' pipeline. It is December 20, 2019," Gazprom boss Alexei Miller told journalists.

Gazprom's investments in gas midstream will grow by 6.8 percent year-on-year to 911.2 billion rubles ($15.3 billion), including the Turkish Stream project, the Russian gas holding said on Jan. 19, as reported by TASS. 

Investments in the Turkish Stream project will total 42 billion rubles ($702.7 million) in 2017, according to the report. 

Gazprom has announced it will scrap a major tender for the construction of the Power of Siberia pipeline, which is to supply China with 38 bcm of gas over a period of thirty years.

The USD 2.1 B tender was a historic high for the Russian energy giant.

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said now European countries should be building onshore links for the Turkish Stream on their own at an exclusive interview with Reuters.

"Now counties should be building (onshore links) on their own. The routes could be different - they may come to Italy if they want. This is not our business anymore," he said.

Officials from Moscow and Beijing signed on Sunday 17 documents on cooperation.

Among them is a memorandum envisaging the supply of gas from a depot in West Siberia through the so-called Power of Siberia pipeline.