MOSCOW, April 25 (RIA Novosti) - Transneft, Russia's state-owned oil pipeline operator, will announce Tuesday the winner of a contract for a $11.5 bln pipeline from East Siberia to the Pacific, the company's chief executive said.
"We will probably sum up the results of the tender and complete the selection of a contractor today," Semyon Vainshtok said.
He said construction work would begin in the next three-four days.
The first leg of the pipeline will run from Taishet to the Amur-Region town of Skovorodino near the Chinese border. The final destination will be chosen this fall somewhere on Russia's Pacific coast.
The new pipeline, with an annual capacity of 580 million barrels, will pump Siberian oil to countries of the Asia-Pacific Rim, particularly energy-hungry China.
