"Linear work is completely finished": Putin announced the completion of the laying of the first string of Nord Stream 2

Vladimir Putin, speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), announced the completion of the pipe laying of the first string of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

“I am glad to announce that today, two and a half hours ago, the laying of pipes for the first string of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was successfully completed.

Work on the second line continues, ”the president said.

It should be reminded that Nord Stream 2 is two gas pipeline strings with a length of over 1200 km each and a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters.

m per year.

The pipes run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea through the exclusive economic zones and territorial waters of Russia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Germany.

Putin added that the linear work, including the offshore section, has been completed.

“From the German side, the pipe came up, from the Russian side - they need to be lifted and welded.

Everything.

But the laying has been completed by itself, ”the President noted.

The head of state also said that this week the readiness of the Russian linear part of the gas route to the Slavyanskaya compressor station, which is the starting point of the new gas pipeline, was ensured.

Also on russian.rt.com Head of OMV: construction of Nord Stream 2 will be completed this year

Gazprom is ready to fill Nord Stream 2 with gas.

This route will directly connect the gas transportation systems of Russia and the Federal Republic of Germany and, like Nord Stream 1, will serve the energy security of Europe, reliable supply of European consumers in general, "Putin said.

The President stressed that the Nord Stream 2 project is economically highly efficient and fully complies with the strictest environmental standards and technical requirements.

Putin announced Russia's readiness to implement such high-tech projects with European partners.

“We hope that the logic of mutual benefit and mutual benefit will inevitably prevail over all sorts of artificial barriers of the current political environment,” the president concluded.

According to Putin, Gazprom is ready for deliveries, the timing of the start of gas delivery via Nord Stream 2 will depend on the German regulator.

In turn, the head of the Austrian oil and gas company OMV, one of Gazprom's financial partners in Nord Stream 2, Rainer Seele said that the second string of the gas pipeline is also close to completion.

"The second branch is just over 50 km away," TASS quoted him as saying.

At the forum, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz spoke about the role of Nord Stream 2 for Europe.

According to him, "the project, of course, must be completed."

“We are very optimistic about this, we hope that it will be implemented, as Germany and other European countries hope so.

And we hope that this will ensure the energy security of Europe.

And for Russia it will be very positive, because we really buy a lot on the Russian market, ”the Chancellor added.

Against the background of the discussion of Nord Stream 2, Putin mentioned the issue of gas transit through Ukraine.

Recall that in December 2019, Moscow and Kiev signed an agreement for a period of five years.

“We have a contract with Ukraine on pumping our gas ... Over the next five years, we will pump up to 40 billion cubic meters.

m, in the best years they pumped, in my opinion, almost to 200 ", - said Putin.

He added that if "normal relations" were maintained, Russia would continue to pump a significant portion of gas through Ukraine.

“The monopoly possibility of gas transit gives rise to the illusion that prices can be inflated to the skies for this transit, on the one hand.

On the other hand, try to lower the price of gas, which is purchased for Ukraine in direct contracts between Russia and Ukraine, as low as possible, ”the Russian leader said.

He recalled that now Ukraine receives $ 1.5 billion from Russia for transit, and could receive $ 3-5 billion. "They broke everything with their own hands," Putin concluded.

At the same time, he said that Russia is ready to load the Ukrainian gas transportation system after the expiration of the transit contract, if an agreement is reached with Kiev.

Environmental challenges

The President noted that the world needs to unite its efforts in the face of common systemic and long-term challenges, which decisively determine the future of the entire civilization.

“I have often heard talk that Russia, they say, is not very interested in solving global environmental problems.

I can say right away: this is nonsense, this is a myth, or even outright distortion.

Like other countries, we feel risks and threats in this area, including desertification, soil erosion, melting of permafrost, ”the president said.

As Putin said, Russia has set a goal - in the next 30 years, the accumulated volume of net greenhouse gas emissions should be lower than in Europe.

Speaking about specific areas of such activities, Putin mentioned projects to reduce emissions in sectors of the economy, as well as work on the formation of a market for carbon units.

As the president explained, this term refers to an asset that characterizes the amount of absorption of harmful emissions into the atmosphere by a piece of land or forest.

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“The importance of Russia's natural potential for ensuring the climate stability of the planet as a whole is enormous, simply colossal.

And of course, due to its natural natural advantages, Russia can take a special place in the global carbon market.

For this, it is necessary to increase the efficiency of the use of forests and lands, to increase their absorption capacity, ”Putin said.

Economic growth, vaccines and the post-pandemic world

At the beginning of his speech at the plenary session of the SPIEF, Putin especially noted that after a forced break amid the pandemic, the first major international business event is being held in Russia.

Speaking about the current situation in the economy, the Russian leader mentioned that experts called the last year's recession the deepest since the Second World War.

At the same time, Putin noted, the situation is changing.

“We can already say with confidence that the world economy is returning to normal life.

Global GDP growth is expected to be unusually high this year, too, to be the highest since the 1970s: experts are talking about 6% growth, as you know, ”Putin said.

Speaking about the consequences of the pandemic, the president also mentioned the problem of vaccine availability.

He noted that vaccinations should be available to a wide range of people.

“Until we ensure wide, ubiquitous access to vaccines against coronavirus, and on all continents, the danger of an epidemic and its new outbreaks will not go away.

The foci of the spread of infection, which pose a threat to the entire planet, may remain, ”Putin said.

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• © Amanda Perobelli

He drew attention to the fact that hundreds of millions of people simply do not have access to vaccines due to the fact that these countries do not have technology, production facilities or funds to purchase vaccines.

Putin mentioned the lessons of the pandemic.

According to him, the situation with COVID-19 has shown people that it is health and human communication that are of the highest value.

“The most important thing is that we realized what the highest value is - health and human communication. We all missed this and still do not have enough during the pandemic. We realized that health and human communication is our highest value. Based on this, we must build our life in the near future and in the more distant future, ”the head of state said.