A festive ceremony dedicated to commissioning the second string of the Nord Stream gas pipeline took place today in the Portovaya Bay, the Baltic coast of Russia.

Taking part in the ceremony were Mr Sergey Ivanov head of the Russian Presidential Administration, Mr Alexander Novak energy Minister of the Russian Federation, Mr Alexey Miller chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, Mr Matthias Warnig MD of Nord Stream AG, Mr Harald Schwager member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF, Mr Gerhard Schroeder chairman of the Nord Stream AG Shareholders Committee, Mr Bernhard Reutersberg member of the E ON Board of Management, Mr Jean Francois Cirelli vice chairman and President of GDF SUEZ and Mr Paul van Gelder president of Gasunie. Mr Vladimir Putin president of the Russian Federation, Mr Angela Merkel Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr Francois Hollande president of the French Republic and Mr Mark Rutte PM of the Netherlands addressed the public via video link.

Nord Stream became a new link on the European energy map to increase the reliability of energy supplies. This was possible due to the alliance of the leading European gas and energy companies. The gas pipeline was constructed in no time. Gazprom took great efforts on developing the Russian gas transmission system to deliver gas into Nord Stream. In the first place, the unparalleled Portovaya gas compressor station was constructed. Now we are bringing Portovaya to its full capacity and it is becoming the most powerful compressor station in the world.

Mr Alexey Miller said that “Today Nord Stream shareholders examined the preliminary results of the feasibility studies for the construction of the third and fourth strings and came to the conclusion that their construction was economically and technically feasible. By January 31st 2013 it is planned to sign a memorandum on creating new gas transmission facilities across the Baltic Sea to Europe. One of the strings might be intended for delivering Russian gas to the United Kingdom. And we see interest in this project on the part of our British partners.”

Mr Matthias Warnig said that “Russia and the EU will be able to use the optional modern and efficient supply route to make a direct connection between European markets and some of the world's largest gas reserves in Northern Russia. The Nord Stream pipes, manufactured with the use of cutting edge technologies have a service life of at least 50 years; they will make a considerable long term contribution to energy security in Europe. We implemented this ambitious infrastructure project on schedule, within budget limits and with no expenses on the part of European taxpayers.”

Source - Gazprom.com

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