Consortium answers queries on underwater Baltic Sea pipeline (Roundup)

Sep 30, 2009, 16:37 GMT

Stockholm (dpa) - An international consortium that wants to bring natural gas from Russia to Germany via an underwater pipeline said Wednesday it has answered questions raised in Sweden about the project.

Questions and comments were raised by some 50 bodies including various Swedish authorities, research institutes, non-governmental organizations, citizens and municipalities invited to take part in the pubic consultation process.

The Nord Stream consortium said it had handed its answers to the ministry of enterprise.

'We will get approval, I am certain of that,' Lars O Gronstedt, advisor to the Nord Stream consortium, told Swedish radio news.

The 1,200-kilometre-long pipeline through the Baltic Sea is envisaged to run through the Swedish economic zone, east of Gotland.

The Swedish government is to assess the application but has not set a date for a decision.

'We are hoping that the government considers that they have received all the required material in order to take a permit decision,' Gronstedt said in a statement.

Nord Stream said it had decided to stick to its original route off Gotland.

The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has earlier recommended a more easterly route, citing the need to avoid areas used by sea birds.

Partners in the consortium include Russian gas monopoly Gazprom, German energy companies E.ON, BASF/Wintershall and Dutch company Gasunie.