Europe awaits Nord Stream launch

BERLIN, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev arrived Monday in Germany ahead of the inauguration of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline, Moscow said.

The Kremlin's press service said Medvedev will meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon ahead of a ceremony for the launch of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline.

The official launch of the Nord Stream pipeline is set for Tuesday. A second leg of the pipeline through the Baltic Sea is expected online next year. Each line of the Nord Stream project is predicted to carry about 970 billion cubic feet of natural gas per year.

Nord Stream is part of Russia's efforts to diversify its export options for Europe. Disagreements between Kiev and Moscow make the conventional route through Ukraine politically risky.

The Nord Stream consortium, led by Russian energy company Gazprom, said in early September that it started the four-week process of filling the first leg of Nord Stream with so-called buffer gas.

The consortium managing the pipeline said Nord Stream "is providing this key energy infrastructure on schedule and on budget, at no cost to European taxpayers."

Gazprom leads the consortium that includes French, German and Dutch energy companies.