"Today we have launched a great European project... This is a new export route that will increase Europe's energy security," Alexey Miller, chairman of Gazprom said at the gathering. The 1657-km long, 48-in diameter, gas pipeline will initially transmit around 27.5 billion cum/yr of Russian gas to Germany, from where a sizeable proportion will be supplied to the UK. The starting point for the subsea section of the NEGP will be a coastal compressor station at Portovaya Bay, near Vyborg, in the Leningrad Region. The offshore section from Vyborg to Greifswald in Germany will be 1,089km long, operating at 210bar. The Russian onshore section originates at Gryazovets, near Babayevo, and extends 568km to Vyborg via the Vologda and Leningrad Regions: this new pipeline will also help meet the growing gas demand in St Petersburg. The current estimated total investment into the project will exceed £2.9 billion.