Nord Stream tender to be finalized in March

The results of the tender to supply pipes for the Nord Stream gas pipeline are to be finalized by March 30, 2007 - the project operators said on January 24. The company technical director Mr. Sergei Serdyukov has clarified that three out of six companies which were invited to participate in the current tender will be selected to supply large diameter pipes for the Nord Stream pipeline which will link Russia and the EU via the Baltic Sea. The six companies which were invited to participate in the Nord Stream tender were Japanese manufacturers Sumitomo, Nippon Steel and JFE; German company Europipe and two Russian producers – OMK's Vyksa and Severstal's Izjorsk Pipe Plant. The Nord Stream pipeline requires approximately 1,200 kilometers of large diameter pipes and is expected to be completed after three more years.