MOSCOW, September 18. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian construction company Stroytransgaz has started building an offloading facility at the Lena River, the first infrastructural unit for the Power of Siberia pipeline project, the company said in a statement Thursday.

Stroytransgaz is the main contractor for the works, which will be completed in April 2016. The facility will receive freight aimed for construction of infrastructure and maintenance of the Chayanda field, part of the resource base for the pipeline.

Gas will be pumped into the pipeline from the Chayanda and Kovykta fields. Production at Chayanda will start at the end of 2018, while supplies to China are planned for 2019.

In May, gas giant Gazprom signed a $400 billion 30-year contract with CNPC under which the company will supply 38 billion cubic meters of gas to China per year.