Observers saw nothing apart from political background in the statment made by Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson concerning the change of the route of North European Gas Pipeline.
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North European Gas Pipeline to Hit Firm Ground
Swedish Prime Minister Goran Persson said Friday laying the gas pipeline across the floor of the Baltic Sea threatens ecology. Persson pointed out it may hit the off-shore disposals of toxic substances and advocated lifting the route to the surface. Even if Mr Persson has some reason, the timing of his statement prompts to suppose that the PM wants just to boost popularity before parliamentary elections in Sweden.
Goran Persson spoke of the threat to the Baltic Sea Friday during the Gottland conference of Baltic prime ministers. Well-aware of potential hazard, the PMs will talk to top managers of North European Gas Pipeline Co. (NEGPC) on August 28 in an effort to get the data first-hand.
According to the project, the North European Gas Pipeline will run for around 1,200km and connect shores of Russia and Germany, ensuring direct supplies of Russia’s gas to Western Europe. The project operator is NEGPC, where Gazprom owns 51 percent and German BASF and E.ON have 24.5 percent each. The pipeline is expected to run via Russia, Germany, Finland, Denmark and Sweden; offshore pipes will be laid via the exclusive economic area of the last three states.
In the Baltic Sea, there are two big offshore disposals of Soviet chemical weapons that date to 1947, said Lev Fedorov, president of the Chemical Safety Union, emphasizing that the pipes will run between them, without affecting the disposals. As to the chemical disposals of the United States and the UK, they are mostly concentrated in the Skagerak and have nothing to do with the pipeline's route, Fedorov explained.
www.kommersnat.com
All the Article in Russian as of Aug. 21, 2006
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