The operator of the Nord Stream gas pipeline project said on Thursday it had received approval from German authorities to connect the trans-Baltic pipeline to the European gas network.

The permission was obtained by Opal Net Transport, a subdivision of Wingas, a joint venture between Russian energy giant Gazprom and Germany's Wintershall, the Nord Stream operator said in a statement.

Opal's section will connect Nord Stream to the European gas distribution network in Southern Brandenburg at the German-Czech border, the statement said.

The Nord Stream pipeline, which will pump gas from Siberia to Europe under the Baltic Sea, bypassing East European transit countries, will be 1,220 kilometers (760 miles) long.

Nord Stream will have two pipelines, each with a capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters a year, on the Baltic Sea floor stretching from Russia's Vyborg near the Finnish border to Greifswald on Germany's coast. Construction of the first pipe is to begin in April, with pumping of gas expected to start in late 2011, while the second line is to come online in 2012.

Nord Stream received its final permit earlier this month, confirming approval for the route from Finland, Russia, Germany, Sweden and Denmark, the five countries whose waters the pipeline will pass through. The operator has changed the originally proposed route to ease environmental concerns.

MOSCOW, February 18 (RIA Novosti)