During the test launch, Vladimir Putin pressed the symbolic launch button at Transneft terminal's central control room, thus starting the supply of oil to the Nevsky Prospekt tanker, which will set out for Rotterdam Friday evening. For a while, the terminal will operate in test mode. The loading of the second tanker is scheduled for March 26.
The prime minister spoke with Transneft workers and thanked them for the efficiency of their work. "Back in 2000, we had only begun to speak about the project. In 2002, the work was started and few believed that it would be implemented on such scale," Putin said. The programme of further construction is large, Putin said, recalling the vast reconstruction volumes.
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The construction of the Baltic Pipeline System-2 trunk oil pipeline system, running from Unecha in the Bryansk Region to Ust-Luga, was commenced in accordance with the Prime Minister's executive order of November 26, 2008. The oil pipeline's first joint was welded on June 10, 2009. Construction of the linear section was done at a rapid pace, with the final tie-in welded on October 28, 2010 near the port of Ust-Luga. During its first operational stage, the Baltic Pipeline System's capacity totals 30 million tonnes per year, and will reach 38 million tonnes per year during the second stage which is scheduled for completion in December 2013.