Sergei Ivanov said he understood the concerns of Poland and the Baltic states, which transited Russian natural gas to Western Europe.
"Those countries are known to use only a small portion of oil products and gas supplied by Russia and to export the bulk of energy resources," Ivanov said.
"I sympathize with their approach and I would probably do the same if I were in their place. However, Russia pursues its own interests in Germany...We must not let the transit countries capitalize on (our gas(."
Ivanov said the Baltic pipe would carry extra volumes of energy resources, while the existing gas pipes' capacities would not be reduced. Ivanov said the project was not politically motivated and blamed Poland and the Baltics' phobias for tensions over the project.
The countries claim the project will pose an environmental threat, which Ivanov qualified as a "phobia". He said Russia had laid gas pipelines on the Black Sea's floor in the past and that this pipe was laid much deeper and the Black Sea environment was more aggressive.
"No problems have emerged with the pipe so far," he said.
The 1,200-km-long (750-mile) pipeline is scheduled to be commissioned in 2010. The construction of one pipe, which would have a capacity of about 27.5 billion cu m of gas per year, will be the first phase of the project. When completed, the other pipe will double the capacity to 55 billion cu m of gas per year.
