HELSINKI, August 12. /TASS/. Finland together with Estonia will present the results of the investigation into the circumstances and causes of damage to the Balticconnector gas pipeline no earlier than in autumn; cooperation with China continues, Risto Lohi, the senior investigator of Finland’s National Bureau of Investigation, said.

"Finnish and Estonian authorities are cooperating with Chinese authorities on this case. Materials have been exchanged and progress is seen in the investigation. The procedure of rendering legal assistance to the Chinese authorities is still ongoing," the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper quoted him as saying.

The National Bureau of Investigation will not be commenting on stages of the investigation, the results of which will be announced jointly with the Estonian authorities no earlier than in the fall, the report said.

Beijing has admitted that the Chinese-owned ship the Newnew Polar Bear damaged the Balticconnector Baltic Sea gas pipeline, saying it was an accident, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post said on Monday, referring to its sources.

The sources said that after conducting an investigation, Beijing shared its findings with the Finnish and Estonian authorities.

The operation of the undersea gas pipeline connecting Finland and Estonia was suspended last October due to a suspected leak. Finnish authorities told a press conference on October 10 that the damage to the pipeline, discovered in the early morning hours of October 9, was apparently the result of an external impact. Later, the Finnish Foreign Ministry reported contacts through diplomatic channels with Russia and China regarding the damage to the Balticconnector pipeline.

Its total length is 151 km, including 77 km along the bottom of the Gulf of Finland. The underwater part stretches between the city of Inkoo (Uusimaa region, southern part of Finland) and Paldiski (Harjumaa county, northern part of Estonia). The pipeline’s capacity is 2.6 billion cubic meters of gas per year. Gas runs through a single pipe both in the northern and southern directions.