MOSCOW, June 30 (RIA Novosti) - Aleksei Miller, chairman of the Managing Board of Gazprom, Russia's state-run natural gas monopoly, and Belarussian Vice-premier Vladimir Semashko want to implement agreements on completing the construction of booster stations and reach projected capacity at the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline this year, they said at a meeting here Thursday.
"This will increase the flexibility of Russian natural gas exports to Europe," Gazprom said in a press release.
The SRTO-Torzhok and the Yamal-Europe gas pipelines, extending for more than 4,000 kilometers, are to link the northern Tyumen region with Western Europe.
The Belarussian part of Yamal-Europe covers 575 kilometers. The linear pipeline portion has begun operation, with one of the five projected booster stations working.
Gazprom, the investor, and the Beltransgaz open joint-stock company, the ordering party, signed the investment contract to build Yamal-Europe in Belarus on February 25 of last year.
