© Nord Stream 2Nord Stream 2 pipeline being laid
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline will be launched by the end of 2020, Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak has said.
The completion of the project was sabotaged earlier by US sanctions. Swiss-Dutch construction company Allseas recently succumbed to the pressure of US sanctions and halted work on the last section of the pipe.
Still, the Nord Stream 2 is expected to become operational by the end of 2020, Novak told reporters on Friday - and
Russia itself has the equipment needed to complete the project. "One of the options we have [to complete the pipeline] is a vessel that is currently in the Far East. But we'll need some time for additional preparations," Novak said.
The vessel that the minister mentioned is the
Akademik Cherskiy pipe laying vessel, which is operated by a Gazprom subsidiary and is currently moored at the port city of Nakhodka. Given the differing climates of Russia's Far East and the Baltics, the vessel itself would require tuning. Its voyage to the Nord Stream 2 construction site will also take time.
Comment: If the US can't stop NS2 - it has managed to delay its completion, no doubt adding critical time to its fantasy of maintaining and increasing current markets for US LNG in Europe. However, many consider this to be a gross miscalculation.
RFE/RL, 27/12/2019: European Commission's criticism of Nord Stream sanctions
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on December 27 criticized new U.S. legislation that imposes sanctions on European companies building the Russian Nord Stream 2 natural-gas pipeline to Germany. She is the latest European official to speak out about the unilateral sanctions.
"The EU Commission emphatically rejects sanctions against European companies that engage in projects in line with the law," Von der Leyen said.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said recently that the pipeline might be delayed by a couple of months due to the fresh U.S. sanctions but there was nothing "catastrophic" about the situation.
German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz last week called the sanctions "a severe intervention in German and European internal affairs."
Von der Leyen, though, said the commission must protect the interests of its eastern member states.
Shortly after Trump signed the sanctions bill into law, Russia and Ukraine agreed on a new gas transit contract through 2024. Russia had been pushing initially for a one-year contract, while Ukraine was seeking 10 years. Analysts said the U.S. sanctions may have helped Ukraine get a better deal.
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