Russia's Gazprom has awarded Stroygazmontazh (SGM) contracts worth 197.7 billion roubles ($2.8 billion) for work on building the Power of Siberia gas pipeline to China, tender documents published on a government website http://zakupki.gov.ru/ showed. SGM, engaged in construction work for the oil and gas industry, is owned by Arkady Rotenberg, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Rotenberg was among the first Russian businessmen to face Western visa bans and asset freezes over the seizure of the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine last year.

In January Russia awarded SGM a contract worth over 200 billion roubles to build a bridge to the Crimean peninsula. Gazprom did not reply to a written request made by Reuters for comment on the Power of Siberia contracts. The pipeline is designed to deliver 38 billion cubic metres of gas per year to China over 30 years, with first deliveries scheduled for 2019. The Forbes magazine has estimated the fortune of Arkady Rotenberg at $1.4 billion.

Copyright Reuters, 2015