ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) — The Russian energy giant Gazprom and Austria's OMV are confident that the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will be completed before the end of 2019, the head of the Russian company, Alexei Miller, said Friday.
"We have noted that the project is being implemented according to the schedule adopted by the shareholders in the beginning. We have no doubt that the project will be completed before the end of 2019," Miller told reporters.
In September 2015, Russian energy giant Gazprom and its European partner companies signed a shareholders agreement on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The signatories were Gazprom, E.On, Shell, OMV, BASF and Engie.
Nord Stream 2 could provide up to 55 billion cubic meters of direct gas supplies from Russian shores through the Baltic Sea to the German coast, bypassing the Baltic states and Poland. The project has been met with opposition from some EU member states, such as Poland and the Czech Republic, over fears it would increase European energy dependence on Russia. Germany has consistently supported the project.
