Marcel Salikhov, Director of the Center for Economic Expertise, ISMU HSE, commented on the progress of the social gasification program in Russia to Nezavisimaya Gazeta.
At present, about 39.5 million households are supplied with gas in Russia, Marcel Salikhov, Director of the Center for Economic Expertise at the Higher School of Economics, recalls. “Therefore, connecting 110 thousand households to gas (+ 0.3%) looks like a feasible task,” he continues, stressing that the immediate implementation of all applications for connecting to gas is not realistic, as it requires construction of additional gas distribution infrastructure.
The expert also doubts that during 2022 it will be possible to connect additional 2.5-3.5 million households, even with a significant increase in investments in gasification. “In 2021, Gazprom plans that its investments in gasification will amount to RUB 128 billion, compared to RUB 56 billion in 2020 and RUB 34 billion in 2019. Thus, investments have already grown several times over the past 2-3 years,” the scientist says.
100% gasification in Russia, according to him, is also technically impossible and economically inexpedient. “Transportation of gas requires the construction of expensive infrastructure for gas trunklines and gas distribution systems,” he said.
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