ERR: Expert: Nord Stream and Gazprom Stand to Gain from Fast-Track Ratification of Border Treaty
Nord Stream is one of the key players behind the push for a rapid ratification of an Estonian-Russian border treaty, says Hardo Aasmäe, a prominent scholar and geographer.
There are two places currently on the table as the Russian landfall site of the new gas pipeline - Kolgompya and Kurgalsky. The one at Kurgalsky, which would reduce the length of the pipeline, would run through the former Estonian SSR sea border. But under the current text of the Estonian-Russian border treaty (as opposed to the 1920 Tartu Peace Treaty), no part of the pipeline would be located in Estonian territorial waters.
"The part to be relinquished to Russia is namely that marine area, which will allow Russians to build a cheaper pipeline," said Aasmäe.
"The fact that a thousand square kilometers of the Narva Bay would be given away from Estonia without getting anything in return is an obvious gift," he told ETV. MORE