Putin launches natural gas pipeline

MOSCOW, Sept. 6 (UPI) -- Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin launched the country's new Nord Stream gas pipeline Tuesday, eliminating Ukraine's exclusive gas transit rights to Europe.

The $11 billion pipeline, which runs beneath the Baltic Sea, will send Russian natural gas to Germany once it is complete, avoiding Ukraine and other central European countries. Ukraine is trying to revise the terms of a 2009 deal with Russia's Gazprom monopoly over gas prices, which are now tied to the price of oil. Ukraine says it is overpaying at a cost of $6 billion per year, RIA Novosti reported.

"Ukraine is our old and traditional partner. As any transit country it has the temptation to benefit from its transit position. Now this exclusive right disappears. Our relations will become more civilized," Putin told reporters Tuesday.

Putin launched the process of filling the first phase of the Nord Stream pipeline with technological gas Tuesday at Portovaya, where the Gryazovets-Vyborg pipeline connects with Nord Stream, ITAR-Tass reported.