Russia's Gazprom is ready to let third parties use the Nord Stream pipeline when a gas trading hub is set up in St. Petersburg, local news agencies quoted the head of the company as saying on Friday.    

Gazprom holds a monopoly on Russian gas export pipelines and has so far resisted European demands that it let independent gas producers access its network.    

The agencies quoted Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller as saying the existence of such a hub would create conditions for the company to comply with European Union laws, which require all pipeline operators to offer non-discriminatory third-party access.    

By 2015, Nord Stream, which will run under the Baltic Sea to Germany and is slated for launch later this year, will transport up to 63 billion m³ to Europe. Miller said Gazprom's export arm would now move to St. Petersburg.    

Gazprom owns 51% of the project with German companies Wintershall and E.ON each holding 15.5%, and France's GDF Suez and Dutch Gasunie each with 9%.    

The agencies also quoted Miller as telling reporters at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum that Gazprom forecast the price for its European customers at $500 per 1,000 m³ in the first quarter of 2012.    

Miller said Gazprom would increase its 2011 investment by one quarter to 1 trillion rubles ($35.5 billion), and had decided to sell a 16.7% stake in its banking arm Gazprombank, describing it as a "non-core asset."