He said that Transneft has already completed the construction and commissioning operations, while there are still several technical problems.

Mr Igor Dyomin Transneft spokesman told Prime news agency that “We are talking about the launch of BTS-2 no earlier than December 15. It is most likely to happen in the second part of December.”

It was earlier planned to launch the pipeline at the end of November, while in early October Mr Tokarev said there were some problems with bottom dredging operations which the Russian Transport Ministry had not yet completed.

The BTS-2 pipeline project is implemented under the government order to secure the reliable supplies of oil to European consumers. The 1,000 kilometer pipeline with an annual capacity of 30 million tonnes of oil will run from Unecha in western Russia to the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga in the country northwest bypassing Belarus.

(Sourced from RIA Novosti)