AFTER seven years of deliberations, Russia’s parliament – the State Duma – will consider a bill shortly that would allow private investment into oil and gas pipelines. Under the bill state-run Gazprom and Transneft would have controlling stakes in any pipelines that the government deemed to be “long distance”, while private investors would retain control over any smaller pipelines.
At the same time, private investors would have to cede 75% of the control of oil pipelines to Transneft, and 50% plus one share of gas pipelines to Gazprom, said Irakly Aslamazov, deputy head of staff at the Duma's Energy, Transportation and Communications Committee, discussing some of the bill's clauses recently following approval by the committee for the bill as a whole.
The new legislation has been delayed since being passed in a first reading in 1999. Under the bill, one or several private investors would be able to fully or partially fund the construction of long-distance pipelines that could run across state borders, Mr Aslamazov said. In return, investors in such pipelines could receive a stake in Gazprom or Transneft, lower transportation tariffs, or the right to priority access, he continued.
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