Pipeliners

November 6, 2007 - REUTERS - MOSCOW – Russia's Gazprom will postpone the start-up of the Nord Stream pipeline by several months as it faces delays in clearing the project with all the countries involved, Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday. The agency quoted Nord Stream's technical director, Sergei Serdyukov, as saying the start of construction of the underwater link had been delayed by six months to July 2009, while first deliveries had been postponed by two months to Nov. 30, 2010. He said some countries in the Baltic region had delayed clearance of the project. He did not specify which countries. Gazprom has previously said the Nord Stream group was struggling to get permission from German officials to build an onshore section in Germany, which would ship Russian gas to the continent when it arrives by the underwater pipeline. Apart from Gazprom, the Nord Stream group includes German firms BASF and E.ON. Dutch company Gasunie has also been holding talks to join the project. Gazprom has said problems with German officials emerged amid a debate in the European Union about whether to allow major energy suppliers to control distribution assets in the EU. Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Sweden have also raised ecological and other concerns about the project, which is set to further deepen Europe's heavy dependance on Russian gas. In Poland, prime minister in-waiting Donald Tusk said on Tuesday Germany and Russia might soon abandon their plan to run the pipeline under the sea. “This initiative, this project, has not been prepared well,” Tusk, who is due to be nominated prime minister this week, told a news conference. “I hope and I hear some signals that in the nearest future the sponsors of the project would be ready to seriously correct it,” he added, without elaborating. Poland fears the pipeline bypassing its territory would enable Russia to cut of crucial gas supplies to the country while continuing to deliver to western Europe.