WASHINGTON, June 28. /TASS/. Russia’s gas producer Gazprom and its Nord Stream 2 partners have invested a total of 4.8 bln euro in the project on natural gas pipeline construction as of the end of June, Chief Financial Officer of Nord Stream 2 AG, the operator of the pipeline construction, Paul Corcoran told journalists on Thursday.
"We have up until now 2.4 bln euro from Gazprom and 2.4 bln (euro) from the Western partners. So in total we have 4.8 bln (euro) at the end of June," he said when asked a respective question.
"We have received 96% of the pipes, we have concrete coated 55% of those pipes and we mobilized vessels for the pipelines. So we are quite well prepared on track and on time for the project," CFO added.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is expected to come into service at the end of 2019. The pipeline is set to run from the Russian coast along the Baltic Sea bed to the German shore. Each of the pipeline’s two stretches will have a capacity of 27.5 bln cubic meters. The new pipeline that is expected to connect the Russian resource base with European customers, will double the capacity of the first line and will basically follow its route.
The total cost of the project has been estimated at 9.5 bln euro. Gazprom is the only shareholder of Nord Stream 2 AG. Gazprom's European partners in the project are Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall, Austrian OMV, French Engie and Anglo-Dutch Shell.