Reuters: Russia wants China to prepay for gas to fund pipe

Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom wants China to pay up front for gas to meet 40 percent of the costs of building the pipeline, Russia's energy minister said on Thursday, after the company reported progress in talks with Beijing.

Top energy producer Russia has been in negotiations to supply fuel-hungry China with natural gas for years but the talks have stalled due to failure to agree a price.

"It's 40 percent from the pipeline construction costs. That's the figures Gazprom is using during the talks," Alexander Novak told Reuters when asked if Russia wants China to pay in advance for the pipeline construction.

Earlier on Thursday, Gazprom said it met a Chinese delegation to discuss possible Russian gas supplies to China.  MORE