OREANDA-NEWS. A working meeting took place in Berlin yesterday between Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee and Sigmar Gabriel, German Vice-Chancellor, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy.

The meeting addressed the reliability of Russian gas supplies to Europe and the progress with the Nord Stream II project. The parties pointed out the success of construction, high operational efficiency and environmental safety of the Nord Stream I gas pipeline and also highlighted the importance of creating new direct routes for Russian gas supplies to Europe amid the declining domestic production in European countries.

Background

Germany is the biggest Russian gas consumer. In 2014 Gazprom sold 40.3 billion cubic meters in the German market.

Running from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea, Nord Stream I is an export gas pipeline with an annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters. Nord Stream AG is the project operator (Gazprom holds 51 per cent, Wintershall and E.ON – 15.5 per cent and ENGIE – 9 per cent).

On June 18, 2015 Gazprom, E.ON, Shell and OMV signed the Memorandum of Intent stipulating the construction of two strings of the Nord Stream II gas pipeline with an aggregate annual capacity of 55 billion cubic meters, to be laid from the Russian coast to the German coast via the Baltic Sea.