NOVO-OGAREVO, June 9. /TASS/. The Russian authorities are monitoring the construction of the Amur Gas Processing Plant (GPP), as it is of particular importance for the country's economy, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. He was taking part in the ceremonial event in a video-conference mode.
"For our economy, this project is of particular importance. Therefore, from the very beginning, we keep it in sight," the head of state noted.
"We opened it in 2015, and in 2017, as I remember, I was at the construction site — all the time we watched the progress of its implementation," he added.
The Russian leader considers the launch of the plant to be a significant event. After reaching full capacity, the Amur GPP will become one of the world's largest natural gas processing enterprises, Putin said.
"And [it will be] the largest one in the production of helium — a gas that is in demand in a number of key high-tech industries. These are medical breathing mixtures and" artificial air" for divers and astronauts. [This gas is used] for MRT, for computer chips, for fiber optics, liquid crystal screens, and so on, "the head of state listed.
The President thanked the entire team that participated in the creation of the plant for their perseverance and responsibility. "For working for best result, as they say," he added.
The head of state noted that the new plant is significant not only for the industry but also for the entire national economy, for the development of Eastern Siberia and the Far East.
"And, of course, the Amur GPP is a good step in increasing the depth of processing of raw materials. This implies a prudent and efficient use of natural resources," the President stated.
Putin said that the cost of the entire Amur GPP project exceeds one trillion rubles ($13.8 bln).
"This is a capital-intensive and knowledge-intensive project. The cost of the entire project is over 1 trillion rubles ($13.8 bln). I am sure that the last stage will be commissioned in 2024-2025, as planned," he said.
The head of state also drew attention to the fact that the AGPP is "a huge enterprise with an area of over 900 hectares."
"What is especially pleasant, we have many partners interested in joint work and results. These are people and companies from Russia, Turkey, China, India, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan with a total of 35,000 people - a huge team," Putin said. He believes that "this joint work will be beneficial, in particular for the creation of new enterprises of this kind and new alliances to achieve a common result."
The Amur GPP is one of the largest infrastructure projects of Gazprom in the Russian Far East. It will be the anchor enterprise of the advanced gas processing hub in that region.
The plant will process multi-component natural gas from Yakutia and Irkutsk gas production centers. The design capacity of the facility will be 42 bln cubic meters of gas per year. The plant will comprise the world’s largest helium production facility - up to 60 mln cubic meters per year. The plant will consist of six production lines.