Poland has signed a deal to build the first gas pipeline connecting the Baltic states to the EU energy market. The pipeline will integrate EU and Baltic energy markets and reduce dependence on Russian gas.

The 558 million euro ($636 million) gas pipeline will end the energy isolation of the Baltic countries by connecting the gas markets of Poland and Lithuania, the European Commission said

“Today we have done much more than bringing the energy isolation of the Baltic States to an end. We have brought the region further together,” European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said. “We are launching a project that will allow us to overcome historic limitations, including the direction of gas supplies from East to West,” PM Kopacz told a press conference.

The 534-kilometer (332-mile) Gas Interconnector Poland-Lithuania (GIPL) will be backed by a 305 million euro investment from the European Commission, which has set out the goal of creating an integrated European gas market and ensuring members have multiple supplies of energy. Once the GIPL is built, it will connect the Lithuanian, Estonian and Latvian gas network with the EU. The pipeline is scheduled to be completed by December 2019.

Earlier this week, PM Ewa Kopacz opened a liquefied natural gas terminal at the Baltic port of Świnoujście, northern Poland, which is yet another move expected to improve the energy independence of the country. The first shipment of LNG is expected to arrive from Qatar in December