Putin Denounces 'Unfair Competition" On Energy Markets
01.01.70
April 26, 2006 -- President Vladimir Putin denounced today what he called the "unfair competition" Russia is facing on energy markets.
He said Russia should focus on supplying with energy resources the fast developing economies of the Asia-Pacific region, adding that a planned oil pipeline from Siberia to Russia's Pacific coast is a key project that will allow Russia to diversify its markets.
Putin said the planned Siberian oil pipeline should be moved some 40 kilometers north from Lake Baikal. Environmentalists have protested against current plans for the pipeline to run less than a kilometer away from the lake, the world's largest body of fresh water.
Putin was speaking at a meeting on regional development in the Siberian city of Tomsk.
Later on April 26, he is due to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the city