Russian Navy to Ensure Nord Stream Ecology – Putin

MOSCOW. Oct 25 (Interfax) – Russia will use its navy to ensure the ecological safety of the Nord Stream pipeline project, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a televised phone-in session on Wednesday.

“This is a very large project, very important for the economy of the country, and for all of Western Europe. And we, of course, will invite and use the possibilities of the navy to resolve ecological and economic, technical tasks. Because nobody knows better than navy sailors what has been happening in the Baltic Sea since the time of the Second World War. Nobody has the same means of monitoring and checking the seabed; nobody is better able to achieve the task of ensuring ecological safety. This is a slightly new, but absolutely required area of activity for the Baltic fleet,” he said.

The president said that “in many countries of the world navies frequently handle economic tasks: deep water apparatuses owned by the British navy are used for deep-water work during the production of resources offshore.”

The offshore part of the Nord Stream pipeline will be laid by the joint venture Nord Stream AG, in which Gazprom (RTS: GAZP), E.ON and BASF are participating. The Dutch company Gasunie may join this venture in the near future. Critics of the project say that it may disturb chemical weapons dumped in the Baltic Sea during the Second World War. However, pipeline consortium members say that the pipeline does not intersect the weapons dumps and that the project will be carried out in compliance with the highest international ecological standards.

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