On December 8, the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Yamal LNG plant was loaded onto the Christophe de Margerie tanker in the presence of President Vladimir Putin, RIA Novosti reports. The loading ceremony took place in Sabetta, the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area.

The ceremony was also attended by top managers of Yamal LNG shareholders, including Novatek CEO Leonid Mikhelson and Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne. Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak, Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia Khalid al-Falih and Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller also took part in the ceremony.

"I congratulate you all, the entire huge team of Novatek, all those who worked on this project, and all those who have just got on-board and are now working, on this wonderful occasion, the first loading of the gas carrier, a new tanker named after our friend Mr. de Margerie. Unfortunately, he is not with us today but we have a tanker named after him. He was one of the pioneers of this project," Vladimir Putin said.

"This is an extremely important sector for Russia. This is not just an important event in our country's energy sector, or gas production and liquefaction.This is a more ambitious project. What I mean is that we are faced with the enormous task of developing the Arctic and the Northern Sea Route," the president added. 

"This is certainly a complex project, and we have good people here in this room, good professionals, who warned me at the beginning of this journey: 'Do not do this.' When asked why — the first, second, third — the reasons they cited were all really serious. But those who started this project took the risk, and the risk proved to be justified, and they achieved success," Putin noted.