Pakistan and Russia have agreed to sign an amended inter-governmental agreement (IGA) for the North-South Gas Pipeline (NSGPP) on Friday.
The 1,100-km long pipeline is being built by Russia from Punjab’s Kasur to Karachi and it will cost $2.25 billion as per the estimates shared by the Pakistani officials. Russia, however, has yet to say something about the project’s cost.
“Under the revised IGA, Pakistan will be having the major shareholding with 74 percent stakes in the pipeline of 1,122 kilometers from Karachi (Port Qasim) to Kasur (Punjab). And Russia will have 26 per cent equity,” a senior official from Pakistan’s energy ministry told a daily newspaper.
According to Bloomberg, Pakistan will have a majority share of 51pc to 74pc in the project, while Russia will own the rest.
“Once the amended agreement is signed, both sides will have to sign within 60 days the shareholding agreement, heads of agreement under various commercial arrangements and a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) company will also be constituted that will materialise the project,” the newspaper reported.
Pakistan and Russia signed an agreement to build the North-South gas pipeline in 2015. The pipeline was to be developed on the build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) model whereby Russia had to transfer the project ownership to Pakistan after 25 years of its commissioning.
The project has barely moved since 2015 largely due to disagreements over fees and sanctions against Russian state conglomerate Rostec over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea.
