RIGA - Officials of NordStream, the $4 billion German-Russian gas pipeline project, have made clear the possibilities of building spurs to both Estonia and Latvia if the economic rationale and political will match up.
The pipeline, announced in 2005, has angered the Baltic states, Poland and Sweden in that it creates environmental risks. It would make more economic sense, these countries argue, to build the pipe overland via the Baltics and Poland.
But to sway the naysayers, NordStream executives are swaying the carrot of participation in the project before Balts' eyes. They understand that access to cheap natural gas for Latvia, which has one gas storage facility and is mulling another, and Estonia, whose maritime territory the pipeline may cross, may be too much to pass up.
In the words of Barbara Kallink, a NordStream official, "As far as we know the owners of the prospective gas storage facility in Dobele are performing geological calculations and preliminary project research. If it is positive, we will consider this opportunity."
Speaking last week while visiting the Baltics, Kallink did not rule out a spur for the Estonians as well.
"For the construction of a branch, a local gas company such as Eesti Gaas (Estonian Gas) would have to make a corresponding proposal and justify its viability. This would serve as the basis for the investor decision," she was quoted as saying.
The proposed pipeline would connect Russia and Germany, and project organizers predict that the pipeline could provide as much as 25 percent of Europe's additional imported gas needs by 2015.
The three Baltic states are all currently "affected countries," meaning that due to the proximity of the pipeline there will be some affect on the countries without directly running through their economic zone or territorial waters. This could soon change, however, as NordStream is considering rerouting the pipeline through Estonian waters. This would give Estonia the status of "host country," subjecting the project to Estonian legislation and debate regarding the permitting process.
The pipeline will run from the Russian town of Vyborg to the German town of Greifswald. Current plans foresee it running through the high traffic shipping straight between Estonia and Finland, and from there closely following the Estonian border before passing by Gotland and heading toward Germany.
The problem with this plan is the congested shipping lane between Estonia and Finland. NordStream had planned to run the pipeline in between the lanes of ships heading in either direction, but found the underwater topography of the area too erratic. This means the company would be forced to level the ground, which would cost huge amounts of money and cause widespread environmental damage.
The only alternative would be to run the pipeline on the other side of one of the ship lanes, placing the pipeline firmly in Estonian waters. There are problems with that plan too, however, as there is suspected to be an old underwater minefield somewhere in the vicinity of the route. Researchers are currently conducting a survey to find out how viable the alternative route through Estonia would be.
The concerns are mainly environmental. The most prominent apprehensions expressed by those countries affected by the project have been about the route, the leveling of the sea bed, the impact on already strained commercial fisheries, and the possibility of disturbing old underwater munitions.
The Baltic states have raised concerns about the management of contaminated soil on the sea floor, the disturbance of protected areas, and the impact on a fishing industry that faces smaller and smaller quotas each year.
In an attempt to address some of these fears, NordStreams is performing extensive assessments of the seabed. To appease the commercial fisheries, for example, NordStream attempted to map all spawning areas near the pipeline, and another study is currently underway to determine the impact of the pipeline on fishing equipment.
This has not satiated all the fears of all the affected countries, however, as Poland and Lithuania still argue for over-land alternative possibilities.
NordStream is controlled by Gazprom, who owns 51 percent of the company's shares, but most of its employees are German. The other two major shareholders are both German-based companies.
While there is no official deadline for the project, the longer NordStream waits the more expensive the venture becomes, and they hope to have it in operation by 2010.
