Gazprom Helping Determine Lawful Ownership of Russian Gas Pipelines

The gas distribution companies (GDCs) of Gazprom continue detecting ownerless gas pipelines during their inspection activities, the company announced. In the absence of lawful owners, gas networks lack proper control and maintenance. More than 70% of such facilities are in the North Caucasus, Volga and Siberian Federal Districts.

The Gazprom Board of Directors recently learned about the measures undertaken to inventory ownerless gas facilities in Russian regions, as well as to optimize the procedure of their transfer to specialized organizations for further operation in line with the laws of the Russian Federation.

It was highlighted that timely inspection, maintenance and repair of gas networks is a guarantee of reliable gas supplies to consumers. The obligation to monitor the technical condition of gas infrastructure is with its lawful owner, who should engage only specialized organizations to perform technical support operations on such infrastructure to ensure its uninterrupted functioning.

Gazprom's GDCs submit information about the detected ownerless property to local authorities or, if the latter fail to act appropriately, to prosecution authorities. In 2020, the appeals filed by the GDCs helped transfer 1,200 km (745 mi) of gas pipelines into municipal ownership and identify the owners of 261 km (162 mi) of gas networks.

Gazprom continues to collaborate with the authorities to improve the current legislation in this area. The company deems it necessary to adopt a clear plan of actions to be implemented in the event ownerless facilities are detected, along with a procedure to monitor its implementation. Other initiatives of Gazprom include introduction of incentives for the acquisition and maintenance of such facilities, as well as reduction of their registration timeframes from one year to three months.

The Management Committee was tasked with continued implementation of the measures for inventorying ownerless gas facilities in Russian regions, as well as for optimizing the procedure of their transfer to specialized organizations for further operation in line with the laws of the Russian Federation.

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