On Tuesday November 8, Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel - together with President Dmitry Medvedev and the Prime Ministers of France François Fillon and the Netherlands Mark Rutte and EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger – will formally inaugurate the first of Nord Stream's twin 1,224 kilometre gas pipelines through the Baltic Sea. When fully operational in late 2012, Nord Stream's two lines will have the capacity to transport 55 billion cubic metres of Russian gas a year to the EU for at least 50 years.

The heads of government and other political and business leaders will be among 420 guests gathering at Lubmin by the pipeline's landfall for a formal ceremony to celebrate the arrival in Europe of gas through the Nord Stream Pipeline and its entry into the European gas grid. The celebrations will be led by the heads of the four countries whose companies are shareholders in Nord Stream.

Nord Stream AG is providing this key energy infrastructure on schedule and on budget, at no cost to European taxpayers: the consortium's five shareholders are providing 30 percent of the 7.4 billion euro investment, with commercial loans from 26 international banks providing 70 percent.