MOSCOW, July 16. /TASS/. Russia has used all its capabilities to provide regions with medical grade oxygen, and is considering importing more, Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said on Friday.
"Speaking about the country at large, we had to use absolutely all our capabilities," the Minister said. "Four main producers of oxygen - Cryogenmash, Air Liquide, Linde and Air Products Gas are working at full capacity. They are producing over 1,500 tonnes of oxygen per day - this amounts to almost three-quarters of the volume produced in Russia," Manturov said.
Manufacturers converted over 90% of their facilities to produce medical grade oxygen, given the situation. Chemical, metals, oil refining, shipbuilding, nuclear sector and defense sector companies further allocated over 100 tonnes of technical grade oxygen per day for hospitals. The defense ministry delivers up to 30 tonnes per day from military airfields to hospitals, while Roscosmos provides another 200 tonnes.
"We are considering in parallel the option of medical grade oxygen import to mitigate all the possible risks and, most importantly, optimize logistics," Manturov said. Russia is holding negotiations on oxygen supplies with Finland and considering the possibility of buying from China, he noted.
"We purchased 100 tonnes in Kazakhstan to increase inventories in southern regions, and the same quantity will be delivered in late July. We started extra shipments of 20 tonnes of medical grade oxygen from Finland for the northwestern and western regions of the country, and are now negotiating supplies of 240 tonnes per month on an ongoing basis," Manturov said.
"In order to have guaranteed inventories in Siberia and the Far East, our trade representations in China are working on options for the direct contracting of liquefied gas from China by these regions," he added.