Our Story
In 2006, following years of studies and negotiations, our founding shareholders, OAO Gazprom (now PJSC Gazprom), E.ON Ruhrgas AG (now E.ON SE), and BASF SE/Wintershall Holding GmbH (now Wintershall Dea AG), established an independent project company in order to advance the planning and realisation of an additional reliable supply of energy from the vast Russian gas fields to European end consumers. We have accomplished this, and, in retrospect, it is safe to say, that it was the decision to establish an independent project company that helped to move this vital project forward.
In the initial phase in the summer of 2006, a handful of employees met for the first time in Zug, Switzerland at the Nord Stream headquarters. Before they could even think of how to build the pipelines, they were faced with other challenges: leasing office space, setting up the company in accordance with Swiss law, and aquiring requisite work permits. With a great deal of pioneering spirit, they succeeded in just a matter of months in setting up an effective team, and in taking the project’s first important steps. For that to happen, people from many companies in numerous countries with different cultures joined forces.
After six years of intensive work, the project was completed in 2012. Nord Stream will be providing Europe with a reliable supply of Russian natural gas for at least the next 50 years. The journey was long, laborious, and at times a bit bumpy. But we can point to outstanding results with pride. Nord Stream has set a new standard for successful project implementation.
Various international professional organisations have recognised our accomplishments throughout the years with a number of awards across the fields of financing, logistics, technology, communication, and more. Ultimately, each individual tile in the mosaic contributed toward our exceptional reputation. A technically challenging international infrastructure project was realised on time and within budget, all on an ambitious schedule.
We have built something that we can proud of, and are making a contribution toward Europe's long-term energy security. If you would like to learn about Nord Stream's complete history, from planning, to pipelines, to operation, you can download our book: Secure Energy for Europe: The Nord Stream Pipeline Project.
