The three companies are Europipe (Germany), OMK (Russia) and Sumitomo (Japan). The contract is worth approximately one billion euros.
Germany's Europipe will be awarded 65%, Russian pipe company OMK 25% and Japan's Sumitomo 10%, according to a press release from the Nord Stream consortium.
The decision was made by the Shareholder's Committee following thorough evaluation of bids from German, Japanese and Russian companies.
This is the second tender to be awarded for the project, and concerns a second 1,220-kilometre gas pipeline from Vyborg in Russia to Lubmin in Germany. This tender is completely separate from a 2007 tender for the first pipe. Delivery of the pipes for the second pipeline is scheduled to start in May 2010.
Paul Corcoran, the Nord Stream consortium's financial director, told EurActiv recently that the economic crisis had proven advantageous for the project, with steel prices falling substantially lower than the consortium had initially estimated (EurActiv 14/05/09).
"With one billion euros, the total volume of the contracts is below the price level of the first line reflecting the current market development of increased competition and more available capacity," said Henning Kothe, project director at Nord Stream.
The worldwide call for tender to supply pipes was made in February 2009. Six manufacturers from Japan, Russia and Germany had pre-qualified to participate and were invited to bid.
Pre-qualification is either by track record for experienced suppliers or by trial production. All potential suppliers had to show they were capable of supplying large-diameter, high-pressure-proof steel pipes for offshore use that met international quality standards.
Construction of the first line of Nord Stream is scheduled to commence on 1 April 2010, the consortium said.
