VIENNA, November 9. /TASS/. Austria supports the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction project, Russia’s Economic Development Minister Aleksey Ulyukayev said Wednesday.
"We've discussed the ways to efficiently implement the project," he said when asked about the Nord Stream 2 project following his meeting with Vice-Chancellor and Federal Minister for Science, Research and Economy of Austria Reinhold Mitterlehner.
According to Ulyukayev, the meeting was very useful and fruitful. "We’ve discussed a few issues. First, the appropriate work of the intergovernmental commission and preparations to its next meeting. Second, we discussed potential ways of coping with the abnormal situation regarding not the Russian-Austrian but the Russian-European economic relations. Third, we discussed particular projects. Particularly, we discussed the Nord Stream 2 project," he said.
As head of Gazprom Alexey Miller told TASS earlier the participants of the project plan to define the new model of the project’s financing by the end of this year. As of now, the Swiss-registered Nord Stream 2 AG (the operator of the pipeline) is wholly owned by Gazprom.
The Nord Stream 2 natural gas 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 billion cubic meters. The new pipeline will double the capacity of the first stretch and will basically follow its route.
Capital expenditures on the project are estimated at 8 billion euros and its total cost will amount to 9.9 billion euros, taking into account project financing.