Moscow, Beijing sign deal to build oil pipeline leg to China - ( ESPO )

Moscow, Beijing sign deal to build oil pipeline leg to China - ( ESPO )
28/ 10/ 2008 http://en.rian.ru/russia/20081028/117994262.html
MOSCOW, October 28 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and China signed on Tuesday an agreement for the construction of a pipeline branch to China as part of the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline. It was earlier reported that construction could start later this year. The branch, which runs from Skovorodino to the Chinese border, will have a capacity of 15 million tons of oil a year.
The ESPO pipeline is designed to pump up to 1.6 million barrels of crude per day from Siberia to Russia's Far East and then onto energy-hungry China and the Asia-Pacific region. A 1,100 km stretch of the pipeline was opened in early October in Russia's Far Eastern republic of Yakutia.
ESPO's first stage envisages the construction of a 2,757-kilometer (1,713-mile) section with a capacity of 30 million tons (220.5 million bbl) of oil per year. It will link Taishet, in East Siberia's Irkutsk Region, to Skovorodino, in the Amur Region, in Russia's Far East. The second stretch will run 2,100 kilometers (1,304 miles) from Skovorodino to the Pacific. It will pump 367.5 million barrels of oil annually. The Taishet-Skovorodino capacity will later be raised to 588 million barrels.
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RUSSIA-PACIFIC PIPELINE PROJECT
http://www.jamestown.org/edm/article.php?article_id=2371013
There have also been public protests against the pipeline. On March 19 some 5,000 people rallied in the Siberian city of Irkutsk to protest the route encroaching on Baikal. The crowd included environmentalists, scientists, and members of the regional parliament and administration (Itar-Tass, March 19). On April 1 Moscow police detained 16 people during a protest outside Transneft's headquarters. There was a series of pickets against the pipeline held in Moscow and other Russian cities over the weekend, April 22-23.Some regional governors also oppose the pipeline route. Irkutsk governor Alexander Tishanin has said that the pipeline project must be moved away from Lake Baikal. ...

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σχετικό ..>>
VICTORY! Putin Orders Pipeline Route Away From Lake BaikalApril 27th, 2006
http://www.pacificenvironment.org/article.php?id=1477
Irkutsk residents defend Lake Baikal at a March 2006 protest
Under unprecedented pressure from local residents, Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly demanded today that the route of the planned Siberia-Pacific Pipeline be moved further from Lake Baikal. In a coordinated media blitz on the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, Putin cited environmental concerns in mandating that the Siberia-Pacific Pipeline be moved at least 40 kilometers further from Baikal. \

Από τους πανηγυρισμούς των ΝY Times , για .. την σωτηρία της Βαικάλης.. ? ? ! !

http://www.pacificenvironment.org/article.php?id=1476

NY Times: Putin Reverses Decision on Pipeline PathApril 26th, 2006
Historic march in Irkutsk last month pressed for pipeline route change
By Steven Lee Meyers, New York Times

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Putin: Russia welcomes Chinese investment.. http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/28/business/EU-Russia-China.php

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia would welcome Chinese investment in construction, timber, machine-building and aviation and that the two trade partners should use dollars less and their own currencies more. Putin, who held talks with his visiting Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao, encouraged Chinese companies to bid for building facilities for Russia's 2014 Winter Olympics in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. "Our Chinese friends have extensive experience in hosting such large-scale events," Putin said in a a reference to Beijing Olympics this summer. "We would welcome active participation of the Chinese companies in tenders for building sports and infrastructure facilities." He also said that China could invest in Russia's timber industries and engage in new joint projects in machine-building industries, as well as plans to build a new passenger jet. Putin hailed steady growth in trade that was expected to reach $50 billion this year and added that it could grow to $80 billion in the next few years. He said that Russia and China should think about trading more in their own currencies instead of dollars.