OREANDA-NEWSRussian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a decree expanding the list of vessels allowed to participate in the construction of the offshore part of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline. A copy of the order is in the Russian media, the authenticity was confirmed by the interlocutor in the government apparatus. In accordance with the document, the border and customs control of these vessels should be carried out directly at the work sites, without entering the Russian ports.

In the explanatory note to the order, the draft of which was prepared by the Ministry of Transport, the need for such an order is explained by the “nature of the organization of dredging and backfilling of trenches” into which the pipes are laid. In accordance with the decree signed in April 2019, several dozen ships flying the flags of other states (mainly Norway, Cyprus and a number of other countries) were allowed to participate in the construction of Nord Stream II under such conditions. Now, in order to complete the project on time, it was decided to add another 23 vessels to the list, including two under the Russian flag — the tugboat Argo and the pipe-laying barge Fortuna.

Most of the remaining (12 of 21) walks the flag of the Netherlands, in addition, the list includes ships under the flags of Cyprus, Spain, Belgium, Finland and the United Kingdom. The assignment of the vessels added to the list is the most different: among them there are four self-withdrawing bilge suction dredgers designed for dredging works, as well as tugs, transports, stone-laying machines, anchor-cutters, dredging barges, supply vessels and so on.

In mid-June, Gazprom reported on the construction of a 58.7% gas pipeline. In addition to Denmark and Russia, Nord Stream II will pass through the exclusive economic zones of Germany, Sweden and Finland. According to the project, it is planned to deliver 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from Russia to Germany and other European countries. In this case, the length of each of the two lines of the pipeline will be 1224 km. At the end of June, the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, said that the gas pipeline would be completed by the end of 2019.