Russia will inform Finland of the results of an environmental examination of the Russian segment of the Nord Stream project, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told Finnish counterpart Matti Vanhanen on Tuesday.
“In addition to the available information, the Finnish premier asked for results of the environmental examination of the pipeline segment to go through Russian territorial waters. The information will be provided,” Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told the media.
Putin and Vanhanen devoted much attention to the Nord Stream project, Peskov said.
Vanhanen said earlier the Nord Stream consortium would have to obtain three Finnish permissions for laying the pipeline to Europe, including the permission to neutralize 31 old mines on the Baltic Sea bed, the Finnish State Council’s permission to use the Finnish economic zone that would be considered this September-October, and the permission from Finnish environmental authorities.
Finnish Ecology Minister Paula Lehtomaki said in St. Petersburg earlier that Finland would complete the environmental report on Nord Stream by early July.
The Nord Stream pipeline will deliver up to 55 billion cubic meters of gas to over 25 million homes. The new pipeline is bound to be an important factor of European energy security. There are no transit states in the Nord Stream route, which will reduce possible political risks. Gazprom said it was doing its best to ensure environmental safety of the project.
Nord Stream with the length of 1,220 kilometers will be laid from Russia’s Vyborg to Germany’s Greifswald across the Baltic Sea bed. The first line with the annual rated capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters may be commissioned in 2011. The pipeline will go through economic zones of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany.