REUTERS

The Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany (BSH) "issued the permit for this approximately 30-kilometers-long route section in accordance with the Federal Mining Act," according to the project's press service.

The Stralsund Mining Authority had previously approved the construction and operation in German territorial waters (within 12 nautical miles) and the landfall area on January 31, 2018, according to the report.

It is noted that the national permitting procedures in the other four countries along the route – Russia, Finland, Sweden and Denmark – are proceeding as planned. "Further permits are expected to be issued in the coming months. Accordingly, scheduled construction works are to be implemented in 2018 as planned," the report says.

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Read alsoEU lawmakers back draft rules to regulate Russia's Nord Stream 2 pipelineAs UNIAN reported earlier, spokesperson for the U.S. Department Heather Nauert said sanctions could be introduced against companies engaged in construction and financing of the Nord Stream 2 project.

The Nord Stream-2 project envisages the construction and commissioning of two strings of a gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year. It is supposed to run from the Russian coast to Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

Read alsoUkraine's ecology ministry intends to join German NABU's lawsuit against Nord Stream 2The new pipeline is planned to be laid next to the already existing Nord Stream-1.

Naftogaz of Ukraine CEO Andriy Kobolyev has stated that Nord Stream 2 in no way contributes to the diversification of gas supplies to the European Union and neither does it provide the EU access to new sources of gas. In addition, Kobolyev noted that the pipeline could deprive Ukraine of its transit revenues.