Pipeliners

08-11-2006 RBC News - Sberbank of Russia says it has signed a credit agreement with the Transneft oil pipeline monopoly. The framework credit facility includes a six-year revolving credit line of RUR 65 billion ($2.43 billion at today's exchange rate) and a non-revolving credit line of RUR 20 billion (about $748 million). The deal was signed on 7 August. The money will be used to finance the first stage of the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline project. The project envisages the construction of a single oil pipeline system from Taishet in the Irkutsk region through Skovorodino in the Amur region to the Pacific Ocean. The capacity of the pipeline will be 80 million tonnes of oil. The project will be implemented in two stages. During the first stage, an oil pipeline will be built from Taishet to Skovorodino, with a capacity of 30 million tonnes of oil a year, and an oil terminal will be constructed in the Primorsk region on the Pacific coast. The first stage of the project is scheduled to be completed in the second half of 2008. In the second stage, a pipeline will be built between Skovorodino and Perevoznaya Bay in the Primorsky region on the Pacific coast. It will have a throughput capacity of 50 million tonnes of oil a year. The second phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2015. The construction of the oil pipeline began at the end of April in Taishet (Irkutsk region). Several kilometers of pipes have been laid, and 67km of pipe products have been delivered to Taishet. The pipeline is being built at a speed of between 200 and 300 meters a day. Initially, the pipeline was supposed to go along Lake Baikal. But in April Russian President Putin asked Transneft to lay the pipeline as far from the lake as possible. The new route runs 400km away from the lake, increasing the length of the pipeline by 370km. Japan expressed interest in the project and asked for state guarantees from President Putin but he said that this was a commercial project and no state guarantees could be given. Vneshtorgbank also wanted to take part in the project. Vneshtorgbank President Andrei Kostin said the bank was one of few banks capable of financing projects valued above $1 billion. "We are prepared to take part in this project, in one way or another," Kostin said. Experts say the construction of the East Siberia-Pacific Ocean pipeline will open new markets for Russia, and give a new impetus for the development of East Siberia and the Far East. Transneft's authorized capital of RUR 6.2195 million is divided into 4.6646 million ordinary and 1.555 million preference shares with a nominal value of RUR 1. Transneft is fully owned by the government. The Federal Agency for Management of Federal Property has 75 percent of the company's voting shares, and private shareholders have 25 percent of preference shares.