MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/. Construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has been completed by 71%, the Russian gas holding said on Thursday.

"Construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline continues. In all, 1,739.4 km of the gas pipeline have been laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea by now — about 71% of its total length," Gazprom reported.

The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is scheduled to be put into operation in late 2019. Each of the pipeline’s two threads will have a capacity of 27.5 bln cubic meters. The pipeline, set to run from the Russian coast along the Baltic Sea bed to the German shore, is expected to connect the Russian resource base with European customers. The total project cost of the Nord Stream 2 is estimated at 9.5 bln euro. Apart from Russia’s Gazprom, the project also involves German companies Uniper and Wintershall, Austrian OMV, French Engie and the British-Dutch Shell.