Poland and Lithuania discuss gas pipeline

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VILNIUS, Lithuania, Aug. 4 (UPI) -- The European Union could fund a portion of a natural gas pipeline discussed by Polish and Lithuanian officials, a gas company said.

Polish gas company Gaz System and Lithuania's Lietuvos Dujos signed a memorandum of understanding to build the so-called Amber pipeline.

Russian energy company Gazprom abandoned the Amber project in favor of the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

Lithuanian officials said the Amber pipeline could eventually link Baltic countries through a regional interconnector, Russia's state-run news agency RIA Novosti reports.

Financial officials at the Lithuanian gas company said the European Commission could fund a portion of the preliminary work for the project.

Poland said the 300-mile pipeline could go on line by 2015 carrying around 175 billion cubic feet each year between both Baltic nations.

Moscow's Nord Stream project made landfall in Russia last week. The pipeline would carry natural gas along the Baltic Sea floor to markets in Europe.