MOSCOW, October 31 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s natural gas giant Gazprom, in accordance with President Dmitry Medvedev’s instruction has completed the gas service installation in the Marfino village, the Astrakhan region. The company’s information office reported that “gas supply service to new consumers of the village has been launched.”
Gazprom received Medvedev’s instructions to fully supply the village with gas in July 2011, after a woman from Marfino filed a complaint to the president’s mobile reception office. According to her, the construction of a gas pipeline in the village was suspended and some streets of the populated locality was cut off from gas supply, as the regional budget lacked funds for the completion of the pipeline. And although the pipe laying within settlements is managed by the local authorities and the holding fulfilled its task to connect the inter-settlement gas pipeline to the village, Gazprom undertook to lay the gas pipeline to 150 houses remaining without gas supply.
“The company performed the work to build street gas pipelines and off-takes to the 150 households of Marfino on a tight schedule. Thus, all 740 houses of the village have been provided with gas supply before the cold weather onset,” the gas monopoly reported.
Gazprom is providing gas services in Russian regions jointly with the authorities of RF subjects: the holding finances the construction of inter-settlement gas pipelines, that is, bringing gas to populated localities, and the regional authorities are responsible for the construction of street networks and preparation of consumers for receiving gas.
The monopoly sources noted that Gazprom has made significant investments in supplying the Astrakhan region with natural gas. In the 2004-2011, the investment volume exceeded $2 billion, which made it possible to raise the region’s gas supply level to 75.6 percent with Russia’s average of 63.1 percent. At the same time the level of gas supply in rural areas has been considerably raised - by 16.3 percent - to 63.2 percent.
Gas service installation in Russian regions is carried out jointly by Gazprom and federal constituents’ authorities. Thus, the company finances construction of the inter-settlement gas pipelines delivering gas to population centres, while regional authorities take on street-level networks laying and preparation of consumers for gas supplies, according to Gazprom.
In 2009 Gazprom completed the construction of the inter-settlement gas pipeline from Kozlovo village to several settlements of the Volodarsky District, Astrakhan Oblast, including the Marfino village.
At the expense of the Astrakhan region government, inter-settlement gas pipelines were built in the Marfino village with a population of about 2.5 thousand people to ensure gas supply to individual houses. However, due to the lack of funds in the regional budget, more than 150 houses were not supplied with gas.
In July 2011 Dmitry Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation, having considered the complaint by Nadezhda Syzranova, a resident of the Marfino village on the suspension of the inter-settlement gas pipeline construction, gave Gazprom an order to take measures and complete gas service installation in the village.
As ordered, Gazprom developed design and estimate documentation for the construction, received a positive opinion from the state expert board, a planning permission and completed all the necessary construction and assembly operations.
Gazprom is a global energy company basically focused on geological exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing and marketing of gas and other hydrocarbons as well as electric power and heat energy production and distribution. The state owns a 50.002 percent controlling stake in Gazprom.
Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow. Gazprom was created in 1989 when the Ministry of Gas Industry of the Soviet Union transformed itself into a corporation, keeping all its assets intact. The company was later privatised in part, but currently the Russian government holds a controlling stake.
In 2008, the company produced 549.7 billion cubic metres (BCM) of natural gas, amounting to 17 percent of the worldwide gas production. In addition, the company produced 32 million tonnes of oil and 10.9 million tonnes of gas condensate. Gazprom’s activities accounted for 10 percent of Russia’s GDP in 2008.
The major part of Gazprom’s production fields are located around the Gulf of Ob in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in Western Siberia, while the Yamal Peninsula is expected to become the company’s main gas producing region in the future. Gazprom possesses the largest gas transport system in the world, with 158,200 kilometres of gas trunk lines. Major new pipeline projects include Nord Stream and South Stream. The company possesses subsidiaries in many different industry sectors, including finance, media and aviation. In addition, it controls majority stakes in various companies.