Nord Stream aim to commence shipping 27.5 billion cubic meters of gas a year from Russia to Germany in 2011, circumventing transit countries such as Ukraine and Poland. A year later, the capacity of the 1,220-kilometer (758- mile) pipeline may double to 55 billion cubic meters.
The company will bigin the request-for-proposal process for the second financing package at the beginning of 2010, Jens Mueller, a spokesman for the venture, said by phone.
The venture expects to gain permission to build the link, which runs under the Baltic Sea, from Finland, Russia and Germany this year, Managing Director Matthias Warnig said. Sweden and Denmark have already given approval for it.
Nord Stream is a joint venture company of OAO Gazprom, BASF SE/Wintershall Holding AG and E.ON Ruhrgas and Gasunie.
