Today the Russian company 'Gazprom' officially opened the construction of the pipeline Nord Stream. The pipe will be placed on the bottom of tha Baltic sea. It will start from Vyborg and lead to Greifswald in Germany. Its length will be about 1200 km.
The Russian president Dmitriy Medvedev, the prime minister of the Netherlands Jan Peter Balkenende, the European comissiomer of energy sector Günther Öttinger, the president of the actioner commitee of Nord Stream and the ex-kanzler of Germany Gerhard Schröder, the head of 'Gazprom' Alexander Miller, the governing director of Nord Stream AG MAttias Warnig participate in the solemn ceremony, as RIA NOVOSTI reports.
Two pipes - a European one and a Russian one - were symbolically welded in the Portovaya bay. On Tuesday, April, 6 the real works of putting the pipes on the bottom of the Baltic sea had begun.
It is supposed to open the first line of the pipeline which will be able to let throug 27.5 bn cbm of gas is expected in 2011. After the second line is finished in 2012 the whole pipeline will be able to let throug 55 bn cbm. The two lines of Nord Stream will be opened in November 2012.
Tha stockholders of Nord Stream are the Russian 'Gazprom' (51%), the German 'Wintershall Holding' and 'E.ON Ruhrgas' - each has 20% and the Dutch 'Gasunie' - 9% shares. the French GDF Suez has been expected to participate (9%) to the beginning of construction.
All the gas that is to be transported by the pipeline has been already formalized - the deputy head of 'Gazprom' reported to the journalists.
