Gazprom to reach an agreement with CNPC by the end of the year

Russia is again trying to activate the negotiations on the gas supply to China. On the results of the visit to China of the Vice Prime Minister, A. Dvorkovich, Gazprom and CNPC have announced they would agree the contract by the end of the year. Sources of Kommersant say the parties will try to do it even earlier – before the visit of the future President of China, S. Tszinpin, to Moscow in late March. But if Gazprom made advances to China in the issue of the priority of the more expensive Eastern route of supplies, the main obstacle – gas price – stays unsettled.