Estonia, Finland Say They Are Close to Breakthrough on Balticconnector
The prime ministers of Estonia and Finland say they are close to an agreement on building a natural gas link between the two countries that will mean terminals in both countries.
Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas and Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb made the announcement late last night, saying the bigger terminal would be in Finland and the smaller one in Estonia.
The countries have been negotiating such a twin terminal solution but have failed to come up with a commercially viable solution that would get EU funding.
The pipeline is being built to link Finland with the Baltic and the rest of Europe in, among other things, a bid to reduce dependence on gas from Russia.
As recently as October 2, Finland announced that the project would be postponed and the country would stick to a Russian gas supply at a time when many countries are seeking to reduce reliance.
Now it appears a step forward has been taken.
The earliest completion date for the pipeline is 2018, Rõivas has said.
The key question was where the natural gas terminal would be built, with competition developing between the two countries.
Estonia and Finland will continue talks on the gas pipeline in November, the leaders said.