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Environmental report on Baltic pipeline due this summer: Schroeder

Feb 7, 2007, 20:19 GMT

Brussels - An environmental-impact report about the proposed gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea is to be completed this summer, said Gerhard Schroeder, head of the Nordstream shareholder board, in Brussels Wednesday. 'All the sensitive points will be properly reviewed having regard to strict transparency,' the former German chancellor said. Nordstream aims to begin constructing the 1,200-kilometre-long pipe from Vyborg, Russia to Germany's northern coast next year. Poland, a major transit nation for existing pipelines, regards the bypass as a threat, while Sweden is concerned that construction will harm the seabed and create a pollution risk in the nearly landlocked sea. The Baltic republics are also opposed to the project. German and Russian investors in Nordstream are to pay the 5 billion euros (6.5 billion dollars) in construction costs. Schroeder was in Brussels to meet with Guenter Verheugen, the European Union commissioner for industry issues and Andris Piebalgs the commissioner for energy. A spokesman said Verheugen described the pipeline project as an EU priority. The former chancellor defended the pipeline, saying the EU would have to import 70 per cent of its gas needs by 2015, up from about half currently. 'There is no more reliable supplier than Russia,' he said. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur

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-Feb 7th, 2007 - 21:28:21

More conformation that Gerhard Schroeder is for sale to the highest bidder.

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