Kazakhstan interested in Power of Baikal pipeline crossing its territory

TYUMEN, September 16. /TASS/. Kazakhstan would welcome the Power of Baikal gas pipeline (formerly Power of Siberia 2) crossing its territory, as this would help address gas supply needs in the country’s northeastern regions, Kazakhstan’s Vice Minister of Energy Kaiyrkhan Tutkyshbayev told reporters on the sidelines of the TNF-2026 International Industrial and Energy Forum.

"We are discussing this issue as well. There are two aspects. The first is the route the gas pipeline, now called Power of Baikal, will take - through Mongolia or through Kazakhstan. Of course, if it goes through Kazakhstan, we would welcome [such an opportunity], because we would then be able to address the issue of supplying gas to our northeastern regions. The second issue is re-exports. Our pricing policy is transparent. We have worked on this with Gazprom, and there is full mutual understanding," Tutkyshbayev said.

He clarified, however, that Kazakhstan is not participating in negotiations on the route. "The negotiations are between the Russian and Chinese sides," the vice minister of energy added.

The Power of Baikal (Power of Siberia 2) trunk gas pipeline project from Russia to China envisages supplying 50 bln cubic meters of gas via Mongolia. Following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China in 2025, Russia and China signed a legally binding memorandum on the construction of Power of Siberia 2 and the Soyuz Vostok transit gas pipeline through Mongolia.