MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/. Nord Stream 2 AG, operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction project, is assessing the decision of the US Senate committee on imposing sanctions against Nord Stream 2, the company told TASS.
"We know of this procedure step at the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee. We are currently assessing the proposed legislation. It is too early to comment on any implications for our project," the company’s representative said.
The latter recalled that Western European energy companies from Austria, Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands have committed to invest almost 1 billion euros each in the project. The official also noted that more than 1000 companies from 25 countries work on it and are fully committed to seeing the project completed.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that the Foreign Relations Committee of the US Senate backed the bill stipulating sanctions on companies and individuals involved in the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline laying. This implies selling or leasing marine vessels for the Nord Stream 2 and providing financial and technical support or insurance for such vessels.
The bill will be submitted for approval by the full Senate and House of Representatives and then to US President Donald Trump to become a law.
Washington’s stance
Driven by geopolitical considerations, Washington openly opposes the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and is taking effort to block this initiative. Experts say the United States is thus seeking to push supplies of its own liquefied gas to the European market, although it is much more costly than that of Russia’s Nord Stream. The 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) envisages a possibility of using unilateral restrictions against companies participating in the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project. Besides that, the US Congress is now drafting at least one more bill on sanctions.
About the project
Nord Stream 2 includes construction of two gas pipeline threads with a total capacity of 55 bln cubic meters of gas per year running from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. The cost of construction is estimated at 9.5 bln euro. The pipeline will bypass transit countries — Ukraine, Belarus, Poland and other Eastern European and Baltic states — through the exclusive economic zones and territorial waters of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany.
Nord Stream 2 AG is the project’s operator, with the sole shareholder Gazprom. Gazprom partners — German Wintershall and Uniper, Austrian OMV, French Engie and Royal Dutch Shell (UK and the Netherlands) — will finance 50% of it.