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Construction of a terminal in a village of Kozmino, a final point for the Siberian oil pipeline starting in Taishet, will start in March, Transneft president Nikolai Tokarev announced in Vladivostok on Wednesday.

With the feasibility study of the terminal completed and public hearings of the project held, the construction work of the moorage wharf in Kozmino can be started in March, Tokarev said at the meeting with Primorye’s officials. The construction expenses during the first stage of the project are estimated at 41 billion rubles ($1.7 billion).

The 4,188-kilometer pipe to stretch from Taishet to Kozmino will be built in two stages, with the first part of 2,390 kilometers running from Taishet to Skovorodino close to the Chinese border in the Amur region. The construction of this first leg of the pipeline is planned to be completed at the end of 2009. From Skovorodino, oil will be transported to the terminal in Kozmino by railway, with the total volume of oil expected to reach about 30 metric tons a year.

After the second stage of the pipeline construction is finished, the volume of oil is expected to reach 80 million tons annually.

In Primorye, the pipeline will run a total of 570 kilometers, with six oil-transfer stations to be built along the route, the biggest one being the final terminal in the bay of Kozmino. The construction of an oil processing plant in Kozmino is also included in Transneft’s plans.

During the project’s implementation, special attention will be paid to environmental issues to minimize the negative impact on nature, Transneft officials promised.

Primorye’s Governor Sergei Darkin noted that Transneft should consider purchasing specialized oil-spill collecting vessels for safety needs. Transneft should also take the responsibility of re-storing the lands on which it will carry on construction work, Darkin added. He also pointed out that railway facilities and a network for them should be actively developed to be ensure flawless oil transportation.