Gazprom and three Russian constituent entities agree on wider use of NGV fuel
RELEASE
Release
Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Viktor Zubkov, Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors, Director General of Gazprom Gazomotornoye Toplivo and heads of the following Russian constituent entities – St. Petersburg, the Krasnodar Territory and the Republic of Tatarstan signed today Agreements for Wider Use of Natural Gas as a Motor Fuel as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2013.
Georgy Poltavchenko, Governor of St. Petersburg, Viktor Zubkov and Alexey Miller
The main objective of the Agreements is to boost the economic efficiency of transportation and mitigate adverse environmental impacts.
In order to achieve this objective, the parties are going to take a set of measures on wider use of NGV fuel in passenger vehicles, special-purpose vehicles, municipal vehicles, etc.
Alexander Tkachev, Governor of Krasnodar Territory, Viktor Zubkov and Alexey Miller
The measures will include bringing into operation a fleet of NGVs and building CNG filling stations, multi-fuel filling stations, conversion & maintenance shops and other NGV facilities.
CNG and multi-fuel filling stations are planned to be built and commissioned in parallel with the conversion of vehicles to natural gas or the acquisition of new NGVs according to synchronization schedules approved by Gazprom and regional executive authorities. General contractors will be selected for this purpose on a competitive basis.
Rustam Minnikhanov, President of Republic of Tatarstan, Viktor Zubkov and Alexey Miller
Gazprom will construct and commission NGV infrastructure and arrange the retrofitting of vehicles for operation on natural gas as well as the routine inspection of NGV cylinders. These activities will be performed by a special-purpose company – Gazprom Gazomotornoye Toplivo.
The executive authorities of St. Petersburg, the Krasnodar Territory and the Republic of Tatarstan will contribute to the NGV market development in their territories. For instance, they will prepare the relevant regulatory framework and legal acts and engage in the decision making regarding the harmonization of the NGV infrastructure building process. The authorities of these constituents will also create a fleet of federal and municipal NGVs, provide the relevant infrastructure for their maintenance and train the supporting engineering and technical staff.
Background
Gazprom takes efforts to promote the Russian NGV market to a completely new level. The Russian Regions Gasification Program as well as all agreements signed with Russian constituent entities contain a mandatory section regarding the development of regional NGV markets. The Gasification Program anticipates that in 2013 RUB 1 billion will be channeled to the construction of new NGV refueling stations and the conversion of vehicles to natural gas.
Gazprom Gazomotornoye Toplivo is Gazprom's special-purpose subsidiary set up in 2012 with a view to improve the efficiency of Gazprom's strategy for the NGV market development.