While much of the Western world is condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and imposing myriad sanctions against the regime, Communist China signed a deal today for a Russian natural gas pipeline to be constructed.
As explained in a statement from the state-owned energy firm Gazprom, Chairman Alexei Miller met by videoconference with S. Amarsaikhan, the deputy prime minister of Mongolia.
"The parties discussed the progress of the Soyuz Vostok gas pipeline construction project in Mongolia," reads the statement. "It will be a continuation of the Russian gas pipeline 'Power of Siberia - 2' and will allow the supply of up to 50 billion cubic meters of Russian gas per year to China, the world's fastest growing gas market."
"At the meeting, the special purpose company Soyuz Vostok Gas Pipeline LLC and Gazprom Proektirovanie LLC signed an agreement to perform design and survey work as part of the construction of the Soyuz Vostok gas pipeline," said Gazprom.
"The document, in particular, provides for the involvement of Mongolian companies for geodetic engineering, environmental engineering and archaeological surveys," according to the Russian company.
Chairman Alexei Miller said, “Work on the Soyuz Vostok gas pipeline project is actively and successfully progressing. A month ago, the results of a feasibility study were approved, and today a design contract has been signed. This means that the project has entered the practical stage."
Bloomberg News reported, "A new supply deal with China would also enable Gazprom to build an interconnector between its west- and eastbound pipeline systems, effectively allowing Russia to redirect gas toward China from fields that now only feed Europe. That could ease Gazprom’s reliance on the European continent, currently the single-largest buyer of Russian gas."
"Russia already sends gas to China via its Power of Siberia pipeline, which began pumping supplies in 2019, and by shipping liquefied natural gas (LNG)," reported U.S. News. "It exported 16.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas to China in 2021."