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ISLAMABAD: Talks between Pakistan and Russia were set to begin in Islamabad on Monday for a $2 billion gas pipeline project, with an aim to determine how the resource can be made available to various parts of the country.
Pakistan’s Inter-State Gas System (ISGS) and Russia’s RT Global will be leading the talks in Islamabad. 
Plans for the 800-km-long Regasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RNLG) project are expected to be finalized in three to four days and will also address US sanctions imposed on Russia’s Rostec, the parent company of RT Global. The sanctions are in place due to US’ strained bilateral relations with Ukraine, a hurdle which both Pakistan and Russia will need to overcome to work toward the RNLG deal.
“Once the project is completed, the Russian company is most likely to charge 70 to 75 cents per million standard cubic feet of gas as transportation tariff,” a senior official from the petroleum division of Ministry of Energy, requesting anonymity, said. 
Mobin Saulat, managing director of the ISGS, said on Saturday said that Russia’s proposal offers a sanctions-free structure, while the project itself will be handed over to Pakistan after 25 years.
Saulat added that the Ministry of Defense had been asked to provide the permissions for the pipeline project and that the design for the project and survey has already been completed. The pipeline is currently being laid down from Nawabshah in Sindh and is expected to cover the distance to Lahore.