Merkel, Medvedev open Nord Stream pipeline
PR dla Zagranicy
Peter Gentle
08.11.2011 16:42
At a ceremony on Germany's Baltic coast, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, with Chancellor Angela Merkel and French and Dutch prime ministers, turned the Nord Stream taps on Tuesday, brining gas from western Siberia into Europe.
Medvedev, Merkel et al turn on the tap; photo - EPA/Stefan Sauer
"Natural gas from Russia and the electricity produced from it will help provide steady energy supplies to consumers on the continent,” Medvedev said, opening the 7.3 billion euro 1,224-km pipeline project.
"This project shows that we can count on reliable and durable partnership with Russia for decades," said Chancellor Merkel.
Not everyone was pleased by the flow of gas coming through Nord Stream: Poland and Ukraine have been bitterly against the project from the start as it by-passes the two nations.
In 2006, Radek Sikorski, now Poland’s foreign minister but then head of the Defence Ministry, said the agreement between Russia and Germany to build the pipeline was “like the Ribbentrop-Molotov Pact”. (pg)
source: Reuters