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German government views Nord Stream 2 as economic project

Spokesman Steffen Seibert said that Ukraine should retain the role of the transit country after 2019

BERLIN, December 3. /TASS/. The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project is an economic project and Ukraine should remain the gas transit country, official spokesman of the Germany’s government Steffen Seibert said at a briefing on Monday.

"The principled position has not changed," Seibert said, reminding that the project "is an economic one."

"Ukraine should retain the role of the transit country after 2019," the spokesman added.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is expected to come into service at the end of 2019. The pipeline is set to run along the Russian Baltic Sea coast 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 will double the capacity of the first stretch and will basically follow its route. The total cost of the pipeline is estimated at 9.5 bln euro.

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