FRANKFURT, Feb 3: German power group RWE will announce this coming week its plans to invest 1 billion euros ($1.30bn) to build a natural gas pipeline from the Czech Republic to Belgium, Focus reported on Saturday.

According to the German magazine, RWE aims to create a new transport route into western Europe for gas the company is importing from Russia.

RWE’s Czech unit Transgas extended a contract in December in which Russia’s Gazprom agreed to supply it gas until 2035. A source familiar with the situation said that RWE wanted to expand its gas business both on the procurement and on the transport sides.—Reuters