Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Europe will be completed this year

Construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline’s branches will be finished by the end of this year, according to the project’s chief financial director Paul Corcoran.

“The first line [of the Nord Stream 2] will be ready in November, the second in December,” he said at the European Gas Conference on Tuesday.

The $11 billion Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project is set to run from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea. It is expected to double the existing pipeline’s capacity of 55 billion cubic meters annually.

Nord Stream 2 is projected to provide transit for 70 percent of Russian gas sales to the EU. The project, led by a subsidiary of Russian energy giant Gazprom, is being implemented in partnership with German energy firms Wintershall and Uniper, French multinational Engie, British-Dutch oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell, as well as Austrian energy company OMV.

EU officials, including European Council President Donald Tusk, previously expressed concerns that the completion of the Nord Stream 2 project would lead to Ukraine missing out on €2.5 billion in annual transit fees which Kiev currently receives.

READ MORE: Pipe-laying for Russia's Nord Stream 2 begins in Finland and Sweden

According to the Russian President Vladimir Putin, Nord Stream 2 is a “purely economic project” and its completion does not mean the end of gas transit through Ukraine.

Construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project has been approved by Germany, Finland, and Sweden. Denmark is the only country which hasn’t authorized the project so far. Last year, Nord Stream 2 AG said the consortium could avoid the Nordic state’s territorial waters if it didn’t get permission.

The head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, said earlier that the implementation of the construction schedule for Nord Stream 2 makes it possible to talk about a possible start of gas supplies through the pipeline from January 1, 2020.

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