PRIMORSK (Leningrad Region), April 7 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's industry and energy minister said Friday that all the project studies of a controversial $11.5-billion oil pipeline to Asian markets had been completed.
The East Siberia-Pacific pipeline has raised environmental concerns, in particular, because it runs about 800 meters away from Lake Baikal. Activists have called for the pipeline route to be moved further away from the unique lake, which is on the Unesco World Heritage List, as they fear oil will spew into the lake in the event of an accident.
However, an environmental commission set up by the government approved the project and Industry Minister Viktor Khristenko said the last expert study on the pipeline had been received yesterday and the first stage had been costed.
"Assessment of the East Siberia-Pacific pipeline has been completed," Viktor Khristenko said. "The final figure for the first stage is clear. It stands at around $7 billion."
Khristenko said an investment mechanism for the project was under consideration, with funds coming partially from state-owned oil pipeline monopoly Transneft, which is to run the pipeline, and partially from other sources.
Sberbank, the state-owned savings bank, said Friday it would join the project without saying how much it would stump up.
Chairman Andrei Kazmin said, "We will contribute to the ... project financing. [But] it is premature to talks about specific figures."
The pipeline is expected to pump up to 80 million metric tons a year (1.6 mln of bbl/d) from Siberia to the Russian Far East before being sent on to the Asia-Pacific region. The first stage of the pipeline's construction was initially expected to be completed by the end of 2008.
State-owned oil company Rosneft said Friday it planned to build a oil refinery for the pipeline.
