GDF Suez to join Nord Stream but project still waiting for green light

Nord Stream expects approval, as GDF plans to join the pipeline consortium

By Derek Brower Nord Stream has yet to receive approval from any of the Baltic littoral states for its proposed pipeline between Russia and Germany, but construction should still begin in April 2010, the head of the company said yesterday. Briefing journalists at the WGC in Buenos Aires, Matthias Warnig said he hoped the company would receive its first approval by the end of October and the rest by the end of the year. "We're stoical about it," he said, adding that Nord Stream had spent "so much money" on environmental-impact studies that it was not considering the possibility that the approvals would be denied. He added that GdF Suez could soon join E.On Ruhrgas, BASF/Wintershall, Gasunie a