After several years of negotiations, Russia and China have reportedly agreed to postpone a deal on the Altai pipeline until 2030. The proposed pipeline would have delivered natural gas from western Siberia to northern China and traversed the Ukok Plateau in the Golden Mountains of Altai, one of Russia’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The Sacred Land Film Project filmed in the Altai Republic in the summer of 2007.

Local NGOs and communities have opposed the pipeline, citing potential impacts from the construction phase, including  damage to the habitat of the endangered snow leopard and argali sheep and an influx of outsiders who may not share Altaian values.

Russia and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2006, with Russia agreeing to supply natural gas to China by 2011. According to various press reports from both Russia and China, negotiations on the Altai pipeline broke down when the countries disagreed on the pricing of gas. As prices have fluctuated and the costs of exploration and construction have risen in Russia, China began looking to the Central Asia republics, especially Turkmenistan, to provide cheaper natural gas.

Although local NGOs point out that Russia’s Ministry of Energy has not officially canceled the Altai pipeline project, the project is no longer included on the country’s 2030 energy blueprint released on October 8. Furthermore, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed an energy agreement on October 29, which included a deal on an oil pipeline in the Amur Province of far eastern Russia but no mention of the Altai gas pipeline.

You can read more in the Moscow Times or Forbes magazine.