The largest in the European part of Russia liquefied natural gas plant is going to be built in the Smolensk region

Governor Alexey Ostrovskiy took part in the ceremony of laying a capsule marking the beginning of construction of the largest in the European part of Russia liquefied natural gas (LNG) production plant in the Kholm-Zhirkovskiy district.

The agreement on cooperation between the Administration of the Smolensk region, "Gas-Oil" Inc. and "Sadhana-Yar" Inc. in the sphere of supplying liquefied natural gas to the sectors of the Smolensk region economy was also signed at the construction site.

The production capacity of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) production plant, which is to start operating in the Smolensk region in the fourth quarter of 2016, will be 21 ton per hour or more than 150 tons per year. A similar facility has been built in the Kaliningrad region and is almost ready for use. However, the capacity of the Kaliningrad liquefied natural gas "brother" facility is only 3 tons per hour.

Under favorable conditions, the production and growth of domestic consumption of liquefied natural gas in the Smolensk region will serve as a powerful energy resources base for the development of the industry and agriculture, both in our region and the entire Central Federal District. In fact, it will be the realization of the "virtual pipe" concept when there is no need to build gas networks in remote and sparsely populated areas, but rather every two to three months to pump liquefied gas into a container, from where the fuel will be delivered to the settlements by the shortest route.

The main investor of the plant construction in the Kholm-Zhirkovskiy district is the "Sadhana-Yar" company. The project is being funded by bringing in private, including foreign, investment. The partner company “Nasco” has supported it and expressed the intension to participate not only in the production development projects, but also in the projects of creating the infrastructure for LNG transportation and consumption. The next step is to organize the production of the tank park for LNG transportation, including export. Thus, the systematic approach that ensures the growth of domestic consumption of liquefied natural gas in the Smolensk region is going to be implemented step by step.

Selection of technology and engineering solutions and further use of the machinery will be done by the "Gas-Oil" Inc. - a "Gazprom" Inc. subsidiary. The plant in the Smolensk region will be the most up-to-date and high-tech manufacturing in the industry, as the ground production technology meets the highest environmental standards and is unparalleled in energy efficiency and conservation. This directly affects the performance of the machinery and production costs.

It should be noted that the project provides a solution for a number of socio-economic problems. Apart from the gasification of the settlements located far from the centralized gas supply system, it will ensure uninterrupted power supply, building power plants for new production sites, improvement of the ecological situation in the region.

The success of such an ambitious project will stimulate the development of the economy of the Kholm-Zhirkovskiy district and the entire Smolensk region. Only during the construction period the additional tax revenues to the regional budget will amount to about a billion rubles. In addition, a number of companies in the region will be able to receive orders for the equipment for the future plant.

After the ceremony Vice-Governor Alexander Medvedev chaired the working meeting in the Administration of the Kholm-Zhirkovskiy district where the current issues of plant construction were discussed.