YALTA, October 1. /TASS/. Purchases of pipes and equipment for the new gas pipeline that will connect the Krasnodar region to Crimea will include 200 km of pipes, the Head of the Ministry of fuel and energy of the Republic Sergey Egorov said Thursday.

"At the moment survey and design works are in progress, according to the plan, the selection process of equipment. I know, that the pipes are already bought — 200 km," the Minister said.

"We are not afraid that the pipeline will not be built and put into operation in time. It is the largest project that is vital to the Republic of Crimea," the Minister added.

Preparatory works for the construction of gas pipelines to Crimea from mainland Russia proceed as scheduled, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday.

"As for the gas pipeline construction, everything proceeds smoothly. We have heard a report of the company which is engaged in it. Works proceed as scheduled," he told journalists.

The cost of a new gas pipeline to Crimea is estimated at 20 bln rubles ($306.52 mln), including 14.3 bln rubles ($219.16 mln) — the cost of the pipe that is to run across the Kerch Strain bottom and further on to Sevastopol via Simferopol. Its diameter will range from 500 to 700 mm. Its capacity will be four billion cubic meters of gas a year, whereas Crimea’s current demand is two billion cubic meters.

Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak said earlier that the new gas pipeline will supply gas to basic electricity plants in Simferopol and Sevastopol that are planned to be commissioned by 2018.