GDF Suez Likely to Join Nord Stream by Summer's End

(Moscow Times) - GDF Suez, owner of Europe's biggest gas network, will probably complete talks to join the Nord Stream pipeline by the end of the summer, Gazprom deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said Tuesday.

The move to add to the project's investor base would involve a reduction in stakes held by German companies, he told reporters in Berlin. Gazprom owns 51 percent of the link, Wintershall Holding and E.On Ruhrgas have 20 percent each and Nederlandse Gasunie has 9 percent.

Conditions have yet to be set for GDF Suez's entry to the project, said Jean-Marie Dauger, the French utility's executive vice president.

Nord Stream has begun talks with banks about financing the project, Wintershall board member Rainer Seele said in an interview.

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