BERLIN, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The foreign minister of Belarus Wednesday in Berlin lobbied for a new pipeline from Russia to Europe that is cheap and quick to build.
Russia and Europe should seriously consider building a second string to the existing Yamal-Europe pipeline, Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov said Wednesday in Berlin.
Because the infrastructure for such a second string is already there, the new pipeline, with an annual capacity of roughly 23 billion cubic meters per year, could be built within "18 to 24 months" for a cost of "$1.5 billion to $2 billion only," Martynov said.
"Everything is ready to go," said the foreign minister in a speech to foreign policy experts and journalists Wednesday evening in Berlin's Hotel Adlon.
The so-called Yamal-Europe 2 would connect Western Siberia's vast gas fields with customers in Europe, transiting through Belarus and Poland. Ukraine, which recently was entangled in a gas row with Russia that led to import stoppages in Europe, would be omitted.
Russia recently said it first would focus on two other Europe-bound pipeline projects -- North Stream and South Stream -- before considering Yamal-Europe 2.
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Stefan Nicola, UPI Europe Correspondent
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(e-mail: [email protected])
