St. Petersburg (Platts)--23May2014/511 am EDT/911 GMT

Russian gas giant Gazprom has reached a preliminary agreement with China on a $25 billion prepayment for Russian natural gas delivered under the 30-year supply deal signed this week, deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said Friday.

"An advance was also agreed, in principle. The details are under discussion," Medvedev said. "The amount is $25 billion."

Gazprom on Wednesday signed a long-awaited deal with Chinese partner China National Petroleum Corp. on gas supplies of up to 38 billion cubic meters/year for 30 years from 2018.

Russian officials mentioned the possibility of a $25 billion prepayment linked to the deal on Wednesday, but Gazprom had not confirmed it.

Wednesday's signing ended rounds and years of negotiations during which the two sides failed to agree on price.

Gazprom has not revealed the deal's final price but said it was worth $400 billion. This implies a price of at least $350/1,000 cu m, but analysts have said it was likely to be higher, as supplies will only reach the peak annual volume of 38 Bcm after a few years, when necessary infrastructure is launched.

--Staff, newsdesk@platts.com

--Edited by Meghan Gordon, meghan.gordon@platts.com

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