MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. The Power of Siberia gas pipeline that supplies gas to Russia’s Far East and China has been halted for scheduled maintenance until April 1, Gazprom press service said in a statement on Monday.

"Today, at 5:00 am Moscow time, scheduled maintenance started at the Power of Siberia gas pipeline. It is planned to complete until April 1," the statement reads.

"The dates of maintenance have been agreed by Gazprom and CNPC. The sides reached an agreement earlier on scheduled maintenance of equipment and the gas pipeline systems to be held twice a year, in spring and autumn," the company informed.

The Power of Siberia gas pipeline launched in December 2019 currently supplies natural gas from the Chayandinskoye oil and gas condensate deposit to Russian consumers in the Far East and to China. Supplies from the Kovyktinskoye gas condensate field in the Irkutsk Region in Eastern Siberia (the largest one in Russia’s east in terms of gas reserves) via the Power of Siberia are planned to start at the end of 2022.

Supplies under the contract between Gazprom and China’s CNPC concluded in 2014 will be implemented within 30 years. Annual deliveries are planned at 38 bln cubic meters of gas. The contract is worth $400 bln. In December 2019, Gazprom supplied 328 mln cubic meters of gas via the Power of Siberia gas pipeline to China.