SABETTA /Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region/, April 15. /TASS/. The Yamal Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project is Russia’s Arctic outpost and the example of its implementation confirms that Russia will never leave the Arctic region, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko announced on Monday.

Russia’s top senator made this statement at a guest session of the upper house of Russia’s parliament in Sabetta in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region that discussed legislative initiatives for developing the Arctic.

Before the session, the Federation Council speaker visited enterprises of the Yamal LNG project.

"The project has become a Russian outpost for developing the Arctic in the new millennium. We have confirmed that we are here forever," Matviyenko stressed.

Russia has not yet adopted a basic law on developing the Arctic, the top senator said, adding, however, she was confident that once the ministry overseeing this region (the Ministry for the Development of the Russian Far East and the Arctic) was established, "this issue will finally be resolved."

The Yamal LNG is the first LNG plant built by Russia’s major independent natural gas producer Novatek in the Arctic. Yamal LNG shareholders include Novatek (50.1%), France’s Total (20%), China’s CNPC (20%) and the Silk Road Fund (9.9%). The Yamal LNG project involves the resource base of the Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye field on the Yamal Peninsula. The project envisages the launch of three stages with a capacity of over 5.5 million tonnes of LNG a year each and the fourth stage for the production of 0.9 million tonnes.