MOSCOW: Russia's Gazprom will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with CNPC on piping gas to China during President Vladimir Putin's visit to Beijing this week, a Kremlin aide said on Monday.
Russia has sought to bolster energy sales to Asia to offset a political chill in Europe that has prompted sanctions against Moscow over its role in a crisis in Ukraine.
Putin will attend a military parade in the Chinese capital this week marking 70 years since the end of World War Two in Asia.
Yuri Ushakov also told reporters it was unlikely at this stage that any deals will be reached in Beijing on sending gas from fields in Siberia to China.
He said "intensive talks" were still going on on that.
Last year, Gazprom agreed to supply China with 38 billion cubic metres of gas per year from East Siberia, on par with volumes it currently sends to top customer Germany, starting in 2019.
The supplies could be delayed by two years.
Gazprom had also planned to build a liquefied natural gas plant in the Pacific port of Vladivostok. Last year, Chief Executive Officer Alexei Miller said that Gazprom may choose to supply China with pipeline gas from the Russian Far East instead.
Possible volumes and timeframe of supplies have not been disclosed.
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