The firms include Europipe, which is a joint venture between German steelmakers Salzgitter and Dillinger Huette, with 40% interest in the contracts.
Additionally, United Metallurgical Company (OMK) and Chelyabinsk Pipe-Rolling Plant (Chelpipe) will supply 33% and 27% of the pipes respectively, as part of the contract.
Planned to be signed within the next weeks, the contracts involve supply of approximately 2,500km of large-diameter pipes with a total weight of roughly 2.2 million tons.
The pipes are scheduled to be delivered starting in September 2016 following which construction of the pipeline project is planned to commence in 2018.
Expected to meet the increasing gas demand across Europe, the €2.5bn Nord Stream pipeline expansion project is 50% owned by Gazprom. Other partners in the project include Engie, E.ON, Wintershall, OMV and Shell each with 10% stake.
Planned to be commissioned in 2019, the Gazprom-led Nord Stream 2 project is expected to double the amount of gas directly shipped from Russia to Germany.
Operational since 2012, the existing two lines of Nord Stream have been supplying natural gas from Russia to the mainland in Lubmin/Germany. Two connecting pipelines transport gas from there to customers in West and Central Europe.
Image: The Nord Stream pipeline in Germany. Photo: courtesy of Nord Stream AG.
