MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/.The Nord Stream project is not targeted against other countries and Russia is ready to interacting with all the partners on that project, including Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said. 

"This project is not targeted against any of our partners, including Ukrainian partners," the Russian leader said at a meeting with CEO of BASF Kurt Bock

"We are ready to maintain ties with all our partners, including Ukraine as a transit country," he said.

"We proceed from the assumption that we will be granted reliable and economically profitable conditions for joint work," Putin said.

Putin said that the Nord Stream-2 project is absolutely natural considering the growth of gas consumption in Europe.

"Given the growth in consumption (of gas) in Europe and the decline in production by our European partners, Nord Stream-2 is an absolutely natural project," the Russian president said.

Russia considers BASF as "a significant shareholder in the" Nord Stream ", which supports the continuation of this project, Putin said.

The Nord Stream 2 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 bln 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 bln euro and its total cost will amount to 9.9 bln euro, taking into account project financing.