Ceremony to launch gas supply facilities

The social gasification programme has been ongoing in Russia since 2021. It provides for free extension of gas supply infrastructure up to the boundaries of private land plots. Support is available for benefit-entitled citizens in covering gas connection works within their land plots and purchasing gas equipment. This support is available, among others, to large families, families of participants in the special military operation, and persons with disabilities.

During the video conference, the President was informed about the connection to the gas network of a boiler house of a school and children’s boarding school in the Ulyanovsk Region, the start of operation of the intra‑settlement gas distribution pipeline in the Vladimir Region, a connection to grid gas for a cultural centre in the Chuvash Republic, the connection to grid gas for family households in the Tver Region and Daghestan, the launch of boiler houses at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur Region, and the completion of the construction of an inter‑settlement gas pipeline in the Nizhny Novgorod Region.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues,

Today, we are commissioning a number of facilities built under the social gasification programme. This is one of the most important initiatives for our people, for the regions, for the domestic fuel and energy complex and for the country as a whole.

Russia holds the world’s biggest natural gas reserves. Our goal is to make sure that this resource primarily serves our country helping to develop the economy and social sphere and improve the quality of life for our people.

Over the past 20 years, we have significantly strengthened our gas infrastructure. While in 2005 such infrastructure operated in 40 regions of the Russian Federation, today it covers 73. Over the last five years, a newly gas-connected community has appeared on the country’s map almost every day.

Today, we have scheduled live links from the Far East, Central Russia, the Volga region and the North Caucasus. In each of these regions, access to grid gas delivers a powerful, wide-ranging impact: it fosters the creation of new enterprises and jobs, facilitates the modernisation of existing production facilities, and allows for the conversion of heating and power plants, as well as municipal utilities infrastructure, to cleaner-burning gas – thereby reducing the environmental impact, particularly in our large cities.

And, of course, there is huge demand for access to grid gas in small towns, villages and rural areas – places where individual housing construction is expanding rapidly. Incidentally, this sector accounts for more than half of all housing built in Russia – over 50 percent.

To meet this demand, and to enable people to connect their homes to gas distribution networks more quickly and affordably, we launched the social gasification programme. Gazprom – and I would like to thank Gazprom’s leadership – began extending gas infrastructure to the boundaries of private land plots without requiring any financial contribution from citizens. As of September 1 this year, 1,620,000 households have gained access to this infrastructure, and of these, more than 1,200,000 are already connected to the pipeline gas.

I would like to stress that the social gasification programme has no end date. We will continue this work, as well as the effort to connect our cities and regions, including, of course, Siberia and Russia’s Far East, to the gas distribution network.

In this regard, I would like to emphasise the following: the idea of a social gasification programme was proposed in the Address to the Federal Assembly back in April 2021, while the initiative itself had previously been put forward by the United Russia party.

Since the very launch of the social gasification programme, United Russia and its local representatives have supervised the implementation of this programme, carefully analysing the progress of household connections and paying close attention to the requests of citizens. Based on these results, the party put forward proposals to expand the gasification programme and introduce additional support measures for the population. These United Russia initiatives have been implemented. For example, the scope of the social gasification programme has been extended to include schools, kindergartens, paramedic centres, as well as horticultural associations located within populated areas.

It should be noted that more than 400 boiler rooms, along with medical and educational institutions, have already been connected to the gas supply network. Subsidies have been introduced for 13 categories of beneficiaries to assist with the purchase of gas equipment and connection works on their land plots. Such support is available, among other things, to large families, participants in the special military operation and their family members, individuals with low or modest incomes, as well as persons with Group I disabilities and families raising children with disabilities.

Let me reiterate that these legislative decisions were adopted on the initiative and with the active participation of United Russia. Today, the party’s leaders are joining us via videoconference, and I expect that they will also report on the progress of the social gasification programme and suggest what further measures might be taken, in their view, to broaden its coverage and enhance the effectiveness of our efforts.

I would also like to note that representatives of other parties represented in the previous State Duma have also engaged actively in work on the ground, supported these efforts – and for this cooperation, I would like to thank everyone – and have likewise put forward their own proposals for the optimal organisation of this work.

Let us begin today’s meeting by giving the floor to Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller who will report on the current state of affairs.

Mr Miller, please.

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller: Mr President,

Friends, colleagues,

Gazprom is responsible for creating the entire gas supply chain – from the gas field to the boundary of our citizens’ land plots, to the boiler rooms of enterprises, and to social facilities. This work is carried out in close cooperation with the administrations of the Russian Federation regions and the United Russia party. The results of this work are of great significance for the citizens of the Russian Federation.

Over the past five years, as part of the gasification and gas supply programmes, we have brought gas to 2,150 settlements. In the entire history of the Russian gas industry – and, indeed, the global gas industry – there are no precedents for such a scale of gasification. As of January 1, 2026, we have set a new record for technically feasible grid-gas connection for consumers in Russia – its level has reached 91.2 percent. You will not find such natural gas accessibility rate anywhere else in the world – only in the Russian Federation.

The programme to expand access to the gas distribution network is in full swing. To date, we have connected nearly 1,250,000 households and social facilities to the gas supply.

Mr President,

All the goals and objectives that you have set under the gas supply, gasification and gas pipeline construction programmes will be fulfilled strictly and within the established timeframes.

Thank you.

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