Estonian Economic Minister Call to Look for Land Alternative to Nord Stream

TALLINN. July 25 (Interfax) – Estonian Economic Minister Juhan Parts believes that the European Commission should look into an alternative to the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which should be built along the bed of the Baltic Sea.

Economic ministers of the Baltic States and Poland have been preparing a letter to the European Commission asking to look into a land alternative to the Nord Stream project, Parts said on the air of the radio channel on Tuesday.

“When the letter is ready, we want the European Commission to look into the possible implementation of the Amber project as an alternative to the Nord Stream project,” Parts said.

Both the Amber and the Nord Stream projects are Europe’s parallel strategic gas pipeline projects.

“We discussed with our colleagues that first of all the European Union needs to analyze alternatives: to assess their possible implementation, payback periods, as well as many other elements,” the Estonian economic minister said.

The Amber project, first published in 2004, is expected to spring from various Russia gas fields and would go near land gas pipelines in Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, the minister said, adding that the pipeline is not expected to cross Estonia.

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