Vladimir Putin: Good day colleagues, Gerhard. I am glad to see you.

Today I'd like to discuss a big European project we call Nord Stream - the supply of Russian natural gas to Europe. As far as I remember the first supplies are due by the end of 2011.

This Russian-German project has already turned into a multi-national, pan-European project. It has already involved at least ten big European companies. At least five European countries will get Russian gas. They are, of course, Germany, France, Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark. We are ready to consider other European partners who would want to join the project.

This is a big European project aimed at solving urgent energy problems. I am sure the project will contribute to the development of both Russian and European economies.

My first question is to the head of Gazprom. How do you assess the work flow on the Russian and German territories? What will be the volumes of gas supplies, taking into account the increasing demands of European energy consumers?

Alexei Miller: The operations on the Nord Stream gas project are proceeding strictly on schedule, as agreed by the shareholders' committee of Nord Stream. I am talking about the construction of the pipeline and compressor stations on Russian territory. As for Germany - they are constructing new transport capacities on the bed of the Baltic Sea.

There are no doubts that the project will be complete by 2011. We have signed the contracts for construction of the pipeline along the bed of the Baltic Sea and for pipe production. Initial pipe delivery and temporary storage have been already done in Mukran (Germany) and Kotka (Finland).

The diversity of the contractors and organisations involved in the project, as with the shareholders of Nord Stream, show that the project is pan-European. The contractors from ten European courtiers show that this project is truly international.

The volume of Nord Stream gas will be 55 billion cubic metres a year. Taking into account that the import of gas to Europe will exceed 200 billion cubic metres a year, Nord Stream will meet the rising energy requirements in little more than a quarter.

To be more exact, the volume will meet the requirements of more than 25 million households in Europe.

Vladimir Putin: What is the route of the Nord Stream line in Germany?

Alexei Miller: There are two routes, two destinations; one is to the west - pipeline NEL, another to the southeast.

Vladimir Putin: To the west - where is it?

Alexei Miller: This is along the border between Germany and France. There is also gas transport capacity to Denmark and the Netherlands and towards south-eastern Germany.

The new gas transport capacities to be constructed in Germany will meet the demands of the Nord Stream project.

Vladimir Putin: One of the most urgent problems is the environment. How does the company solve the problem?

Gerhard Schroeder: First of all I would like to note that I would have never taken the position of a chairman of the shareholders' committee unless I had been aware of the necessity to pay special attention to environmental issues.

I would like to assure you that all the companies participating in the project are fully aware of their responsibilities to preserve the environment. Thus we are making efforts to deal with these issues.

In October we will present the most detailed environmental research over preserving the Baltic Sea area that has ever been done. The project will deal with environmental issues as well as the problem of World War II munitions dumped in the Baltic Sea.

I can tell you the price of this research. It costs 100 million euros. This fact proves that German and Dutch companies researching environmental issues are making much effort to solve the problem.

Vladimir Putin: Let's talk about this in detail.