Mongolia Excludes Russian-Chinese Power of Siberia 2 Pipeline from 2028 National Development Plan

Mongolia, the country through which the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline was supposed to pass, did not include Gazprom's gas pipeline in its national development plan through 2028, The South China Morning Post reports. Thus, the project has a chance to remain only on paper.

Power of Siberia 2 pipeline is a proposed natural gas pipeline to export natural gas from Russia to North-Eastern China through Mongolia.

“We are entering a long pause, where Moscow no longer believes it can get the deal it wishes from Beijing and will probably park the project until better times,” said Munkhnaran Bayarlkhagva, a former official at the National Security Council of Mongolia. In addition, 

The 2,500-kilometer-long pipeline Power of Siberia 2 envisaged the construction of a gas pipeline with a design capacity of 50 billion cubic meters, in which case Russia would partially cover all lost volumes of gas supplies to Europe.

Mongolia had hoped for an influx of investment from the construction of the gas pipeline, the cost of which was estimated at $8-15 billion, but “Russia does not have the money and China is not in a rush to build,” said Li Lifan, an expert on Russia and Central Asia at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.