Russian energy company Gazprom said it received the necessary permit to advance construction of the Nord Stream gas pipeline through Swedish waters. “This is an important milestone for our project,” Lars Gronstedt, Gazprom’s senior advisor for Nord Stream 2, said in a statement published Friday. Sweden’s government issued the permit necessary for Gazprom to build and operate the 315-mile section of the planned second leg of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in its territorial waters. Gazprom is doubling the pipeline with more capacity along the network’s existing 760-mile artery. Most of the Russian gas headed to the European market runs through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine. Political turmoil between Kiev and Moscow over gas arrears and later military conflict that followed Ukraine’s pivot […]