Gazprom's chief executive Alexei Miller (C) speaks with E.ON Chairman Wulf Bernotat (L) and Juergen Hambrecht, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF, after the construction launch of the North European Gas Pipeline near the town of Babayevo in the Vologda region some 650 km (403.8 miles) northeast from Moscow December 9, 2005. Russian gas giant Gazprom officially started work on a new Baltic Sea pipeline on Friday to supply Siberian gas direct to German and bypass possible clashes with Russia's ex-Soviet neighbours. REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin