OREANDA-NEWS. Vladimir Putin took part via video linkup in the launch ceremony at the Kirinskoye gas and condensate field.

The Kirinskoye field, under priority development by Gazprom, is part of the Eastern Gas Programme and the Sakhalin-3 project. The Eastern Gas Programme’s main objective is to connect Eastern Siberia and the Far East to the gas supply network.

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PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Good afternoon, colleagues. I am very pleased to greet you all.

We are witnessing today a big event in our country’s energy sector: production is beginning at the Kirinskoye gas and condensate field, one of the biggest and most promising fields in the Sea of Okhotsk.

This is definitely a big step in strengthening the entire Far East’s energy resource base and building the foundation for economic development in our country’s far eastern regions. The gas from the Kirinskoye field will also provide the resource base for the future liquefied natural gas plant. This will be another big step forward for Russia in strengthening its position on the global energy market.

It is good to see that you have used the very latest technology here, including subsea production methods, and this is a first for Russia. This is the most advanced technology, including in terms of minimising environmental risks. I note too that the coastal facilities were designed not just to receive gas from the Kirinskoye field, but also to handle future production as part of the Sakhalin-3 project.

All of this shows that timely decisions are being taken, including technological and investment solutions that create the base for faster development in the Far Eastern regions.

I want to thank all of you and also all of those who are not here at the studio or the company at the moment but who worked actively on this project. I congratulate all of you on this event and thank you for the work you have done.

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VLADIMIR PUTIN: I congratulate you once again. I wish you success in developing new fields, on the Sakhalin-3 project and in the Far East, given that you have projects in Eastern Siberia too, in linking together Russia’s eastern and western gas-producing regions and developing Russia’s unified gas transport system. These are all issues that we have discussed on many past occasions.

All of this work together is comparable only to projects of earlier decades, when big investment was put into developing particular regions or production sectors.

Gazprom has taken another big step today on this road, and it is a successful step. I congratulate you on this.

I wish you all the best.