Putin: Nord Stream 2 to support European gas price stabilization

ST. PETERSBURG, Dec 29 (PRIME) -- The Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline will support natural gas price stabilization on the European market, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday at a government meeting that discussed the winter heating season.

“This is a new and additional route that will obviously contribute to solution of the issue of stabilization of prices on the European market,” he said, adding that Russia can raise exports of natural gas.

Russian gas giant Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller told Putin that the company has finished filling of the pipeline with gas at 12.58 Moscow time on Wednesday.

“Pressure in the first and the second thread of the pipeline is in the working regime, both threads are completely ready for operations,” Miller said, adding that the pipeline was ready for the launch.

Putin congratulated the company and its partners in the project with its conclusion. Russia is ready to start supplies of additional 55 billion cubic meters immediately, and everything depends now on solutions of the European and German consumers, he said.

Miller also said that Gazprom had fulfilled obligations on gas transit through Ukraine, and even pumped 41.5 billion cubic meters through Ukraine as of Wednesday while the planned contracted amount for the year was 40 billion cubic meters, he said.

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