China's Silk Road Fund intends to buy a 9.9 percent equity stake in the Yamal LNG project, Arctic-Info reported, citing Russian Deputy Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky.

According to Yanovsky, the Chinese investment fund is to join the project before the year is out. At present, the final terms of the deal are being discussed.

In September 2015, Novatek and the Silk Road Fund signed a framework agreement on the fund's acquisition of a 9.9 percent stake in the Yamal LNG project.

The Yamal LNG project provides for building a plant with a capacity of 16.5 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and one million metric tons of gas condensate at the Yuzhno-Tambeiskoye gas field. It will be built in three stages, each for 5.5 million metric tons of LNG a year, with the first stage due to launch in 2017.