It is also projected to become a part of an international export route, carrying Russian gas to East Asian countries, such as the People's Republic of China, South Korea and Japan.

The project was announced in September 2007, when the Russian Federation's Industry and Energy Ministry approved the gas Development Program for Eastern Siberia and the Far East.

[2] It was aimed at reducing utility prices in the Russian Far East by replacing more expensive coal and petroleum at the regional power and heating plants with cheaper natural gas.

At the same meeting, Gazprom's board of directors agreed to purchase the Komsomolsk–Khabarovsk pipeline, commissioned in November 2006 by Daltransgaz, a former subsidiary of Rosneft.

[5] Construction began on 31 July 2009 in Khabarovsk with a ceremony, which was attended by the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

[citation needed] The pipeline also will feed a planned LNG plant in Primorsky Krai, producing liquefied natural gas for export to Japan, and a proposed petrochemical complex.

According to Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, this proposed pipeline would help strengthen security in East Asia by meeting North Korea's energy needs and providing it with transit revenue.