Gazprom discusses expansion of Nord Stream

Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller met with Matthias Warnig, Managing Director of Nord Stream AG, to discuss the possibility of expanding the Nord Stream gas transmission system along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. This would mean building one or two additional threads.

Gazprom reviewed the results of a feasibility study carried out by the management company Nord Stream AG, as well as conclusions reached in consultations with government authorities, non-profit organizations and other stakeholders from the Baltic Sea region. Miller also met with Algirdas Butkevicius, Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, to discuss bilateral energy cooperation. The parties discussed the reliability of the transit of Russian natural gas through Lithuania.


New threads would replace the Yamal II project, which was shelved after controversy sparked in Poland. Mikolaj Budzanovski, a shale gas enthusiast, was fired in April due to a Gazprom Memorandum. The document was signed in St. Petersburg by Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller and, on behalf of EuRoPol Gaz, Miroslav Dobrat, who is also Vice President for PGNiG.

In accordance with the agreement, both sides were to exchange information and cooperate to prepare a feasibility study for a pipeline for 15 billion cubic meters of gas per year through Belarus and Poland to Slovakia. The pipeline, called Yamal II, or less formally Jumper, was supposed to bypass Ukraine. The feasibility study, which should be completed by September 2013, has not yet been completed.