In a sign that it is not just a pure price row that is complicating Russia and China's long-running negotiations on a gas sales contract, Gazprom is now said to be seeking a multibillion-dollar advance payment from Beijing for future supplies, while promising a discount in return. The state-controlled Russian gas giant is requesting a prepayment of $25 billion-$40 billion, which it will pay back over the proposed 30-year term of the gas supply contract once deliveries begin in 2015, the Russian business daily Vedo-mosti said late last week, citing various unidentified sources.
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