24 Jan 2013 15:13

Number of illegal taps into Transneft pipelines down 27% in 2012

MOSCOW. Jan 24 (Interfax) - The number of illegal tappings-into Russian oil pipeline company OJSC Transneft pipelines last year decreased by 27% from the year before to 180 instances, Transneft materials say.

According to the company, the most criminal regions in this are Samara Region (42 instances), Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous District (22), Irkutsk Region (21), and Dagestan (20).

Transneft Deputy Vice President Sergei Khardykin said during a working expert group meeting that over the last three years there were 112 cases (8%) of illegal taps that resulted in oil leakage.

The tap-ins are the work of organized criminal groups, and the stolen oil often turns up for refining at mini oil refineries, Khardykin said.