Seventy percent of the first line of the Nord Stream gas trunk line which is to connect Russia and Germany across the Baltic Sea bed has been laid, according to Georg Nowack, Nord Stream AG Project Manager for Germany.

He said on Thursday in northern German city of Lubmin a total of 850 kilometers of pipes had been laid out of the total length of 1,200 kilometers. The Nord Stream pipeline is to connect Russian Vybord with German Lubmin near Greifswald. The first pipes of the line were laid from the German side on May 15, 2010.

The first line is to be commissioned in late 2011. After the start-up of the second line the project will annually pump 55 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia to Europe.