Nord Stream not to replace other gas supply routes - Gazprom CEO

ROME, February 17 (Itar-Tass) --The start of natural gas supplies by
the Nord Stream pipeline will not mean an end to transit by other routes,including Belarus and Ukraine, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said.
"It's not about that. These supplies [by Nord Stream] will be made
under new contracts," Miler said.
He recalled that the construction of the Nord Stream pipeline should be completed in May 2011, after which the first test supplies will be made this spring.
"These supplies will be made under long-term contracts," he added.
According to Miller, gas will be purchased by Gazprom's traditional partners in Europe.
North Stream will run across the Baltic Sea. The first stretch of the pipeline is scheduled to be commissioned in 2011, and the second one, in 2012. The total capacity of the pipeline is 55 billion cubic metres of a gas year.
In Russia, a 917-kilometre-long onshore connection is being built by Gazprom, to connect Nord Stream to the Russian gas transportation system.
Nord Stream will transport 27.5 billion cubic metres of natural gas from late 2011, and up to 55 billion cubic metres from 2012. This amount of gas corresponds to the energy produced by 55 coal power plants pr 20 new nuclear reactors.
The Shtokman gas and condensate field will be a resource base for gas deliveries via Nord Stream.