Russian President Interested in NSGPP in Pakistan
As constructions for the NSGPP in Pakistan came to a halt in 2015, the Russian President has now urged Pakistan to resume construction.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, has expressed his interests in the construction of the NSGPP (North-South Gas Pipeline Project) in Pakistan recently; he wants Pakistan to begin construction as soon as possible.
In October 2015, Pakistan and Russia had signed an agreement to build a gas pipeline from Karachi to Lahore known as the NSGPP in Pakistan. The Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak and Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi signed the agreement at a ceremony witnessed by the former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
Pakistan had appointed Inter Gas Systems (IGS) while Russia appointed RT- Global Resources, a component of the Russian state corporation Rostec, to start construction of the NSGPP. However, the construction came to a halt as the USA imposed heavy sanctions on RT Global in 2016. Since then, Russia has tried changing the firm’s structures to avoid such sanctions but remained unsuccessful.
Russian President, however, has signed a protocol with Pakistan in January 2020, assigning the project rights to the North-South Gas Pipeline (private) Limited, which a joint venture between Eurasian Pipeline Consortium and Federal State Unitary Enterprise (FSUE) Centre of Operations Services of the Russian Ministry of Energy; to begin construction once again for NSGPP in Pakistan.
“This project is demonstrative of strategic engagement with the Russian Federation,” the Petroleum Division official said, quoting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
With delays in construction, the cost for the NSGPP in Pakistan seems to have increased because of the route and diameter of the pipeline changing. He further said that Pakistan had already announced a technical team and was waiting on Russia to finalize theirs so that they could discuss the design and work on the proposal.
According to the original proposal of the project, Russia was to provide 85% financing for the project. Although, the Supreme Court has recently given a decision to recover the outstanding amount of Gas Infrastructure Development from different sectors. It also announced a six-month deadline to start work on the NSGPP in Pakistan. Pakistan is now aiming to increase its shareholdings in this particular project.
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