They noted that the lawsuit filed has a suspensive effect for permission to lay a pipeline from late September to late May on a 16.5 km section in the exclusive economic zone of Germany on the Baltic Sea.

"From the end of May, it will be allowed to continue the construction of Nord Stream 2 in accordance with the current regulation with a permit," the regulator said in a statement.

Earlier, the German environmental non-governmental organization (NABU) filed a lawsuit with the Hamburg Administrative Court against the construction of SP-2.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said that the gas pipeline will be completed in 2021.