Nord Stream 2 reaches completion after years of strife
Controversial natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 running between Russia and Germany is complete Friday morning and soon ready to enter operation, informs Russian gas giant and main project backer Gazprom in a statement.
"[C]onstruction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was fully completed at 8:45 a.m. (Moscow time) earlier this morning," the company writes.
The installation consists a dual pipe system running from Russian town Vyborg to Germany.
One part of the pipe system is expected to transmit gas from October.
The contentious pipeline has been the subject of disputes between the US and Germany for several years. The US government long claimed that the pipe would make Europe too dependent on Russian fuel.
In June, Berlin and Washington reached an accord on the matter.
The two countries have agreed to intervene if Russia uses its gas supply as strategic leverage or in an extended sense acts aggressively toward Ukraine.
Nord Stream 2 will transmit a total of 55 billion cubic meters of gas annually. According to project company Nord Stream AG, the system will supply gas to 26 million households.
Construction costs for the 1,230 kilometer pipe are estimated to exceed EUR 10bn.
Half of the project has been financed by Gazprom, with the other 50 percent stemming from five European partner companies, OMV, Wintershall Dea, Engie, Uniper and Shell.
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