Gazprom Scraps Key Tender for Pipeline to China

Gazprom has announced it will scrap a major tender for the construction of the Power of Siberia pipeline, which is to supply China with 38 bcm of gas over a period of thirty years.

The USD 2.1 B tender was a historic high for the Russian energy giant.

This has been the third tender cancelled by Gazprom since mid-December, amid a scandal that culminated last week after reports emerged a company owned by Arkady Rotenberg, a businessman who many accuse of ties to Russia's political leadership, had won part of the public procurement on Power of Siberia without a formal tender procedure.

Last year China and Russia signed the USD 400 B deal, giving the 4000 km pipeline a new lease of life after the project to supply the far east with gas had been stalled for more than a decade.