Russia’s Gazprom started filling the Nord Stream pipeline (first phase) with technological gas on Tuesday in a testing process that is expected to be finished by October 6, 2011. The 1,000-km-plus pipe, Nord Stream is designed to directly deliver Russian gas to Europe under the Baltic Sea. The first phase with deliver around 27.5 billion cubic meters per year. Phase 2 done in 2012 will up that to 55 billion cubic meters per year. In particular, the fuel will be transported to the Czech Republic and Slovakia via Germany bypassing Ukraine…

The part of that little paragraph above that you should be interested in is: “the fuel will be transported to the Czech Republic and Slovakia via Germany bypassing Ukraine” This is very important and as South Stream comes closer and closer to being done Ukraine will be taken out of the picture as a energy transit country. Remember that Belarus has turned Beltransgas almost completely over to Gazprom…

As with the issues at hand right now with Ukraine over gas contracts. That is the driving force to bypass Ukraine. After listening to years of this conflict, I realize that Ukraine is getting its back up against the wall and does not really know what to do about loosing billions upon billions of dollars in transit money. But Ukraine only has itself to blame. It seems that Ukraine has its own gas deposits but that they are really only capable of supplying Ukraine if developed…

For all the love I have for Ukraine, I have to say that Ukraine has been a terrible gas transit country and has caused huge problems in the past. Just as they are waffling around right now about gas and stirring the pot so to speak…

The latest rhetoric from the Ukraine president, has definitely made the case for South Stream much stronger. One day Ukraine will be taken out of the gas picture and then you will see what is what for reality. The screaming about gas price is only one small part of the whole picture…

As we close in on cold weather we see the desire by Ukraine to cause issues but with a new pipeline called Nord Stream going online in full by October 6th. Ukraine will have much less maneuvering room to rile the sentiments of Europe over gas…

Moscow: Russia Today – Today Russia is not as dependent on the Ukrainian gas transportation system as it was in 2009, or in previous years. Moscow has practically bought out the gas transportation system of Belarus (Beltransgas). On Tuesday Gazprom starts supplying technological gas via the first leg of the freshly built Nord Stream gas pipeline (27.5 billion cubic meters per year), with the second leg to be finished in 2012, increasing gas supplies to Europe via Nord Stream to 55 billion cubic meters per year.

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!