The estimated cost of building two lines of the 1,200-kilometer Nord Stream gas pipeline has risen once again, to 7.4 billion euro, Interfax reports. Construction of the undersea section of the pipeline, which will link Russia and Germany across the Baltic Sea, has still not begun.
The cost revision is contained in a memorandum for a new issue of Gazprom (RTS: GAZP) Eurobonds.
When the onshore segment of the pipeline began being built in late 2005, the entire system was estimated to cost a little more than 4 billion euro. Gazprom revised the cost estimate to roughly 6 billion euro six months ago.
Nord Stream shareholders will provide 30% of project costs and the rest will be borrowed, the memorandum says.
Gazprom has a controlling interest in the project. Germany's E.ON and BASF have minority stakes, while Holland's Gasunie is in talks on joining the project.