OREANDA-NEWS. October 2, 2008. Chaired by Alexander Ananenkov, Deputy Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, a Gazprom delegation paid a working visit to the Kamchatka Krai.

Within the visit Alexander Ananenkov met with Alexey Kuzmitsky, Governor of the Kamchatka Krai. The parties discussed the progress in implementing the Accord on Gasification for the Kamchatka Krai and other issues with regard to the regional gas supply system development.

Special attention was paid to the implementation of the Sobolevo – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky construction project. It was noted at the meeting that Gazprom was meeting the scheduled construction deadlines. The drilling of wells and development of medium-size onshore fields are also going on.

Alexander Ananenkov underlined that in parallel with the construction the Company was preparing for geological survey of Western Kamchatka offshore, as the available onshore fields did not meet the goal of long-term sustainable gas supply to the Kamchatka Krai. Development of new offshore areas will help solve the problem.

Within the visit of Gazprom’s delegation to the Kamchatka Krai Alexander Ananenkov and Alexey Kuzmitsky visited the facilities of the Sobolevo – Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky gas trunkline under construction and the site of offloading and reception of goods intended for the construction.

When visiting the facilities under construction the delegation positively appreciated the work of Gazprom’s business units, its subsidiaries and contractors responsible for the project implementation. Alexander Ananenkov pointed out that the project customer Gazprom invest Vostok and the general contractors managed to summon up all their strength and resources, as well as to launch a large-scale construction within a short period. This was achieved due to the substantial support of the Kamchatka Krai Governor Alexey Kuzmitsky and his team.

Alexey Kuzmitsky underscored that access of the gas giant to the Kamchatka foothold, the forthcoming development of a production and social infrastructure by Gazprom strongly promoted socio-economic development of the easternmost Russian territory and increased the living standards of each and every citizen of Kamchatka.

“I can confidently state today that Gazprom has become a strategic partner of the Kamchatka Krai. Implementation of regional gas projects will create a background for the attraction of private investments. There is no denying that it is very important for us, and we are interested in admitting a large and strong state company into our region,” highlighted Alexey Kuzmitsky.