STOCKHOLM, 7 June. / TASS / Preparations for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Sweden will begin in the coming months, Nord Stream 2 AG reported on Thursday, after receiving a construction permit from the Swedish government.

"The preparation works on the sea floor is certain areas along the Swedish part of the route will begin in the coming months, and the laying of pipes in the economic zone of Sweden is planned to begin this year," the report says.

"The preparatory work was started some time ago from the storage of pipes in the Swedish harbor of Karlshamn. We have now obtained all permits in Sweden. The next step is the preparation of the bottom before laying down of the pipes," the representative of Nord Stream Lars Gronstedt explained to TASS.

Nord Stream 2 AG has already received a full set of permits for the construction and the operation of the gas pipeline in Germany and Finland. The procedures for obtaining permits in Denmark are on schedule.

Earlier on Thursday, the Swedish Minister of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Mikael Damberg announced that the Swedish government had given permission for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Swedish economic zone in the Baltic Sea.

"The government has given permission for the Nord Stream 2, to lay a gas pipeline in the Swedish economic zone in the Baltic Sea, Sweden just cannot reject this project," the minister said.

Damberg reminded that the government considered the Nord Stream 2 application in accordance with the international law and conventions that do not allow the Cabinet to give a negative response to the gas pipeline project.

"But I want to emphasize that the government has a negative attitude towards the project as a whole, since there is a risk that it contradicts the goals of the Energy Union, and also because of the consequences for Ukraine as a transit country for Russian gas, because of significant economic losses, which could arise," added Damberg. He believes that the EU "should reduce dependence on Russian gas" as an instrument of "political pressure."The process of obtaining permits in Sweden began in the fall of 2016. A comprehensive environmental impact assessment (EIA) was carried out, which is a mandatory step in the process of obtaining a permit. EIA and comments received in the course of public discussions became the basis for deciding whether to issue the permit.

Commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is scheduled for the end of 2019. The pipeline will stretch across the bottom of the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast to the coast of Germany. The throughput capacity of each of the two lines is 27.5 bln cubic meters a year.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline will bypass the transit states - Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and other Eastern European and Baltic countries. The gas pipeline will pass through the exclusive economic zones and territorial waters of five states - Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany.