Pumping of Russian natural gas to Europe...

"In May 2011, construction is to be completed on the sea section and on land in Germany and Russia. And gas will start to be pumped in September," Putin said at a meeting with Marcel Kramer, CEO of Dutch Gasunie, which has a 9% stake in the project.

Earlier on Friday, Russia"s Gazprom received its final permit from Finland to build the $10 billion pipeline, which will allow the world"s largest gas producer to bypass traditional transit countries blamed for previous disruptions in gas supplies to Western Europe.

The project, which also involves Germany"s BASF and E.ON Ruhrgas, had encountered hurdles from Baltic nations concerned about the pipeline"s environmental impact. The final route goes through the territorial waters and exclusive economic zones of Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany, avoiding Poland and the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

Putin said in Helsinki on Thursday that Russia"s energy strategy is based on an expected growth in global

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