VIENNA, August 2. /TASS/. Nord Stream 2 AG, the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, developed a gas pipeline route bypassing Denmark without extra costs for the project, Executive Board Member of Austria’s OMV Manfred Leitner said on Thursday. OMV is one of European partners of the Russian gas holding Gazprom in this project.
"We have developed a different route, so the Nord Stream 2 company will not require Danish approvals," Leitner said, adding that project costs can be maintained. The total project cost will remain the same as indicated when starting the project and amounts to 9.5 bln euro, the top manager said.
Denmark is the last country that has not issued a permit for the laying of the gas pipeline in its exclusive economic zone. Appropriate permits have already been given by Germany, Russia, Finland and Sweden. Paul Corcoran, CFO of Nord Stream 2 AG, noted earlier that the construction of Nord Stream-2 may start this summer, before obtaining the permit from Denmark, which accounts for only 10% of the route. In the absence of permission from Copenhagen, the partners are ready to partially change the route by laying it in international waters north of the country.
The Nord Stream-2 project is an expansion of the existing Nord Stream main gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany. The pipeline is set to run from the Russian coast along the Baltic Sea bed to the German shore. It 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. The pipeline’s length will be more than 1,200 km, throughput capacity - 55 bln cubic meters of gas per year. The pipeline is expected to come into service at the end of 2019.