Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder presided Tuesday over the opening of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which links Russia's massive Arctic natural gas fields with energy-hungry European Union consumers, according to dpa. The 1,224-kilometre Nord Stream pipeline, starting at Russia's northwestern town of Vyborg, will make its first fuel deliveries to Germany's terminus near the town of Greifswald in late October or early November, officials at the Russian energy company Gazprom said. "Gerhard, I am very glad that we have reached this point together," said Putin as he addressing Schroeder at an opening ceremony in the northwestern Russian city Vyborg. "This is a huge, massive project which we have completed despite very complicated conditions," Putin said, according to Interfax. Schroeder served as Germany's leader from 1998 to 2005, and shortly after leaving office became the head of an in international advisory committee for the Nord Stream project. It will take around two months for workers to raise the pressure in the pipeline to operational levels and test its entire length for possible leaks. The pipeline's projected annual 55-billion-cubic-metre gas capacity is necessary to meet rising demand, while lowering the volume of Russian gas shipments sent to European consumers via already-existing Ukrainian pipelines, Putin said.
