Gas pipeline on Finnish-Russian agenda
President Dmitry Medvedev did not get his desired Finnish green light for the Nord Stream pipeline project when meeting with his Finnish counterpart Tarja Halonen yesterday.
Meanwhile, as BarentsObserver previously reported, Russia might hope for a swop deal with Finland approving the Nord Stream if Russia opens up for facilitated Finnish timber imports from neighbouring Russian areas. That today remains a possibility, the Moscow Times reports.
Medvedev might have hoped to get Finland’s approval of the Nord Stream project in yesterday’s meeting. However, that official green light did not come. President Halonen in the meeting highlighted that the environmental impacts of the projected underwater Baltic pipeline remains an key consideration for the Finns. She did open up for approval however, but only if the environmental aspects are fully safeguarded.
-If the pipeline can be built safely from an ecological point of view, then it would be a good solution in our view. Work on clearing this up remains unfinished”, President Halonen said at a joint press conference on Monday afternoon, Yle News reports.
Meanwhile, Russia remains confident that Finland eventually will approve the pipeline. Presidential Aide Arkady Dvorkovich yesterday told RIA Novosti that Finland is expected to approve the project by the end of this year.
