Igor Sechin's speech at the awards ceremony:

Esteemed colleagues,

It is a privilege, on behalf of the Russian government, to congratulate the winners of state awards for all the hard work they did during the first phrase of construction on the Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean pipeline system.

The ESPO pipeline is a unique project in all respects. It provides a direct link between Asia-Pacific markets and the Russian oil industry, allows us to diversify export routes for our oil and oil products and significantly reduces the risks and costs of transporting them.

This oil transport route is a crucial element in our economic relations with the People's Republic of China, our largest neighbour and regional partner.

Thanks to the ESPO pipeline, Russia can fundamentally change the marked unilateral power imbalance in the international energy market and open a new chapter in global energy cooperation.

The ESPO pipeline is unique in Russia both in terms of its scale and operational parameters, and it is one of the largest pipeline systems in the world: 2700 km and 30 million tons a year are quite impressive figures, and this is only the first stage.

The builders had to work under extreme weather conditions. They had to overcome numerous natural obstacles in the absence of any infrastructure: the pipeline's route goes through swampy areas and other places that are hard to pass, crossing Siberia's Lena and Angara rivers as well as hundreds of small water obstacles.

The most difficult engineering problems were solved literally during the construction process. Many innovative decisions, unparalleled in their boldness, were used for the first time during the construction of the ESPO pipeline.

But despite all the difficulties, the project has been successfully commissioned.

This was only possible thanks to the coordinated work of a huge team, the well thought-out and executed cooperation among a large number of companies, and the skilful management of dozens of branches separated by large distances and different time zones. It was possible thanks to the commitment and initiative displayed by all the workers and managers at all levels.

Today, employees and heads of organisations, who had successfully implemented the first stage of the Eastern Siberia - Pacific Ocean pipeline system, are presented with the well-earned awards for their devoted work and outstanding achievements.
Friends and colleagues, congratulations from the bottom of my heart! I wish you new successes in the future!