Finland has given the Nord Stream consortium approval to start exploratory work in its economic exclusion zone as part of its gas pipeline project beneath the Baltic Sea.

But the Finnish government has placed certain conditions on its approval, demanding the exploration results be communicated to it without delay to allow its own experts to analyze the data.

Nord Stream "must also follow the rules relating to entering Finland in cases where these explorations stretch in its territorial waters," underscored Helsinki.

Finland has strongly criticized the environmental impact study prepared by Nord Stream, calling it "too general" and "scientifically dubious." The country also questions the pipeline route favored by the consortium, lamenting that no alternative route has been explored.

The gas pipeline project has also come in for criticism from countries bordering the Baltic Sea, including Poland, Sweden and the Baltic countries, who are worried about its impact on the marine ecosystem and the security of their energy supply.

Latvia has recently asked for the pipeline to pass underground rather than through its waters.

Nord Stream, controlled by Russian giant Gazprom which holds a 51-percent stake in the group, plans to lay the 1,200-km pipeline along the bottom of the Baltic sea between Vyborg in Russia and Greifswald in Germany.

Nord Stream is also made up of a 24.5-percent stake held by German BASF and a 24.5-percent stake held by E.ON.

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Related Project
Nord Stream Pipeline
Facility Type: Pipeline Owner: Nord Stream AG
Scope: New Construction Location: Vyborg, Russia to Greifswald, Germany Russian Federation