Poland and the Baltics to build pipeline

The Financial Times said that Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are going to sign a deal to build a strategic gas pipeline. The pipeline construction is to start next year and be completed by 2019. The total cost of the project amounts to €558 million. Half of that sum will be provided by European Commission and Poland is expected to provide another €120 million. The capacity of the pipeline is going to be 2.5bn cubic metres initially, with the potential to rise to 4bn cubic metres. That is estimated to match all the needs  of gas supplies of the Baltics. The pipeline is going to be 534km long and will run from Rembelszczyzna in Poland to Jauniunai in Lithuania. The pipeline may be seen as support for the Baltics, who until recently were entirely dependent on Soviet-era pipelines.