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epa02901816 Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin (R) and Former German Chancellor and Chairman of the Nord Stream shareholders' committee Gerhard Schroeder (L) laugh during their meeting with staff members of the Portovaya compressor station's dispatch center outside Vyborg, a city 130 km northwest of St. Petersburg, Russia 06 September 2011. Gazprom on 06 September started pumping gas into the first line of the Nord Stream gas pipeline which links the Russian and German coasts via the Baltic sea bed. Nord Stream consists of two 1,224 km natural gas pipelines. When fully operational in the last quarter of 2012, the twin pipeline system will supply 55 billion cubic metres (bcm) of Russian gas a year to the EU. EPA/ALEXEY NIKOLSKY MANDATORY CREDIT / RIA NOVOSTI /*** NO SALES NO ARCHIVES NOT FOR USE AFTER 06 OCTOBER 2011*** NO SALES/NO ARCHIVES