RIA Novosti reported that Mr Vladimir Putin Russia prime minister thanked Sweden and Finland for approving the construction of a Russian-German natural gas pipeline through their economic zones in the Baltic Sea.

Mr Vladimir Putin said "Sweden's government has given its permission to the Nord Stream consortium to build two parallel pipelines to carry gas through the Swedish economic zone in the Baltic Sea. I want to thank the Swedish government for this decision."

He said that "And a big thank you to our Finnish partners."

Denmark approved the USD 12 billion pipeline, set to bypass the traditional transit nations of Ukraine, Poland and Belarus last month. Russia and Ukraine which transits around 80% of Russia Europe bound gas have had a series of conflicts over gas prices and debts in recent years which led to brief cutoffs in supplies in 2006 and at the start of this year.

The 1,200 kilometer Nord Stream pipeline is designed to pump some 56 billion cubic meters of gas a year from the Russian port of Vyborg to the German port of Greifswald.

Mr Putin said the pipeline consortium had tackled environmental concerns expressed by Sweden. He said that "Nord Stream has consistently fulfilled what the Swedish government demanded."

Poland which receives gas fees from transiting Russian gas via its territory has also objected to the project. Another Baltic state, Estonia, has lobbied against building the pipeline, citing environmental concerns. Some analysts in Russia have called the country's objections political.

The pipeline is being built by Russia Gazprom, which holds 51% in the project, Germany E.ON Ruhrgas and BASF-Wintershall which own 20% each and Dutch gas transportation firm Gasunie with 9%.

(Sourced from RIA Novosti)