Publication

On 8 September 2005, German and Russian industry, in the presence of both Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and President Vladimir Putin, signed an agreement on the construction of the much-discussed natural gas pipeline running offshore through the Baltic Sea. The Russian monopolist Gazprom has been intensely interested in this pipeline over the past years, as it would create an alternative gas transport route to Western Europe, which has traditionally led through Belarus, Ukraine, and Poland.