Russ Oil-Gas

MOSCOW, February 26 (RIA Novosti) - The board of directors of Russian energy giant Gazprom agreed Sunday to purchase controlling stake of North European Gas Pipeline Company from its affiliated company in Germany, the company's press release said. Gazprom board of directors agreed to purchase 51% of NEGP Company from its affiliated German company ZGG GmbH. The joint Russian-German NEGP Company was formed for the construction of a naval stretch of the North European Gas Pipeline project. Construction under the 4.7-billion euro project, which is managed by Gazprom, began last year. The pipeline, which is to include two parallel legs measuring 750 miles each, will connect the Baltic seashore near the Russian city of Vyborg with the Greifswald region on the German coast. The first leg of the pipeline is expected to have an estimated capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters, and the second will double the NEGP capacity to 55 billion cu m annually. Under the agreement to build the North European Gas Pipeline, signed by Gazprom and Germany's BASF AG and E.ON September 8, 2005, the parties intended to set up a Russian-German joint venture in which a 51% stake would belong to Gazprom, while BASF and E.ON would each hold stakes of 24.5%.