Nord Stream AG clears Swedish, Finnish hurdles

The Swedish and Finnish governments on 5 November granted permits to Nord Stream AG to utilize their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) for the pipeline through the Baltic Sea. “It is a very good day. On one hand, it is important for European security of supply. On the other hand, it is also a good day for the environment. Having both signed the same day is something we are extremely happy about,” Sebastian Sass, head of Nord Stream’s representation to the EU, told New Europe by phone from Helsinki.
The 1,223-kilometer long natural gas pipeline will pass through 506 kilometers and 374 kilometers of the Swedish and Finnish EEZ respectively. The Nord Stream Pipeline, one of Russian giant Gazprom’s major gas export pipeline projects, will transport natural gas from Russia to the Germany and northern Europe.
The EEZ permits issued by the Swedish and Finnish governments are two of five national permits needed for the project. Denmark was the first country to grant a construction permit on 20 October.
Sass emphasized that in Sweden it is only the government that gives its decision that includes all the environmental reviews. “In Finland, you first have an environmental review, which we have concluded, then you have the government’s decision, which we received today, and there will be one further environmental construction permit and that we assume will be decided by the end of the year. So after the second Finnish permit and the Russian and the German permits, we will have everything we need to start constructing. We expect all these decisions to be done by the end of the year,” Sass said.
However, the approval by Russia and Germany is a mere technicality. Given that Nord Stream is essentially a Russo-German project, no problems are expected there, analysts say.
Nord Stream has raised fears both among environmental groups, who are worried about the impact on the Baltic Sea, and countries such as Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic states which view the project as a threat to their energy security.
But Sass noted that Nord Stream remains on schedule despite rumors of project delays. “We are still in line with the spring 2010 start of the construction. Besides all talk of possible delays we have remained on schedule and these decisions support that,” Sass told New Europe.
Nord Stream will directly link Russia’s fields in western Siberia, Yuzhno-Russkoye and Shtokman, when the latter comes into operation, to the country’s largest European customer, Germany. But Sass reminded that Nord Stream is not bound to one particular field. “Our arrangement with Gazprom is that the pipeline will be supplied from the Russian grid, which means increased security for the consumers because we are not dependent on just one source but we have to use supplies from any source available in Russia,” he said.