Finland granted requests on Nord Stream

HELSINKI, Finland, Sept. 2 (UPI) -- Moscow will provide Helsinki with the results of environmental surveys of the route for the Nord Stream gas pipeline through Finnish waters, officials said.

Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen had asked his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for the information during his latest visit with the premier.

Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for Putin, said Moscow would release the results of the environmental examination as well as other available information on the pipeline, Itar-Tass reports.

Vanhanen had told Moscow it would need Finnish permits for the pipeline, including permission to neutralize 31 mines left over from World War II. Separate permits were needed from Finnish environmental and economic authorities, he added.

The Finnish premier said his country might give the necessary permission for Russia to build Nord Stream in its territorial waters as early as September.

Nord Stream would travel along a dual route through the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea to Germany. It is among the many options meant to ease the burden on Ukraine, which hosts the majority of all Russian export gas to Europe.

Moscow views Nord Stream as key to its energy diversification goals as the route does not include a transit state, as is the case with Ukraine.