“We have to weld 40 kilometers,” Gazprom Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee Vitaly Markelov.

Last week, on September 5, Gazprom reported that 2,000 kilometers of pipes were welded and laid from Yakutia, Russia to the Russian-Chinese border, which is 93 percent of its length.

Gazprom and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) signed an agreement for gas to be supplied via the eastern route (the Power of Siberia gas pipeline) in 2014.

The 30-year agreement provides for Russian gas deliveries to China at 38 billion cubic meters per year. Gas supplies will start in December 2019.

The construction was hardly easy for Gazprom, since the pipeline route passes through swampy, mountainous areas, with the extreme environmental conditions of Siberia. By building it, Gazprom intends not only to supply gas to China, but also contribute to the social and economic development of Russia’s Far East and gasification of the Russian regions.

Pipeline natural gas is not the only fuel that will go from Russia to China. Russian gas producer Novatek, in cooperation with the CNPC, is working on the implementation of Russian-led energy project Yamal LNG. China has purchased the first two batches of liquefied natural gas from Yamal.