Gazprom has fired a top manager after he told journalists that the Power of Siberia pipeline, an ambitious pipeline project that is supposed to bring Russia's natural gas to China, have been delayed.

      Earlier, Viktor Selin, deputy head of the Chayanda Office of Gazprom Dobycha Noyabrsk, Gazprom’s subsidiary, said that the previous deadline of 2018 was moved to 2020, but he did not disclose any details.

      Gazprom later dismissed the news saying the manager’s statement was misunderstood.

      In May, Gazprom signed an historic deal with China on natural gas supplies that will help the country to diversify its exports. According to a source at Gazprom quoted by the Izvestia daily, the price is be set at $350-380 per thousand cubic meters of gas.

      Gazprom is now building a pipeline to fulfill its 30-year contract for the supplies of 38 billion cubic meters of gas that could bring Russia some $400 billion.

      The price is on par with what European customers currently pay, which could mean that amid the EU’s calls for diversification of its imports the eastward shift for Russian supplies will be quite easy to accomplish.

      Many analysts have questioned the project’s profitability for Moscow for at least the first several years of operations.

      According to the Guardian, “the Chayanda and Kovykta gas fields are in the depths of eastern Siberia. The ‘strength of Siberia’ pipeline that will bring the gas to China through Vladivostok will run 4,000km (2,500 miles) through swampy, mountainous and seismically active areas.”