Coordination Center for NGV Market Development created at Gazprom’s initiative

A meeting on the development of the natural gas vehicle fuel market was held today in Moscow. The event was moderated by Alexander Novak, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and Viktor Zubkov, Chairman of the Gazprom Board of Directors, Russia's Special Presidential Representative for Cooperation with the Gas Exporting Countries Forum.

It was noted that Russia's NGV fuel market is actively evolving. This process is spearheaded by Gazprom. As of early 2022, a total of 669 gas filling stations – more than half (386 units) of them owned by the Company – were operating in the country. Last year, nearly 950 million cubic meters of fuel was sold via Gazprom's refueling network – a 2.5-fold increase from 2013.

Natural gas is the most cost-effective and eco-friendly type of fuel. Its use helps reduce the cost of transportation and improve environmental conditions, which is especially important in big cities. At the same time, consumption of natural gas as a vehicle fuel in Russia is not growing quickly enough: the average workload of gas filling stations nationwide is under 36 per cent. Promising areas for the expanded use of natural gas include, inter alia, agricultural machinery, as well as river, railway and waterborne transport.

Viktor Zubkov noted that, with the purpose of efficiency improvement, a Coordination Center for NGV Market Development was created under the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation. Its main objectives include the monitoring of the market situation, expert reviews of prospective projects of systemic importance, analysis of the regulatory and technical framework, and preparation of proposals on the streamlining thereof.

“The Coordination Center will foster the most favorable conditions for the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel.

In our country, with its enormous reserves of natural gas and a well-developed gas transmission system, the use of natural gas in transport is the most efficient solution,” said Viktor Zubkov.