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Decision on OPAL pipeline may be found within Nord Stream-2 project framework — OMV CEO

Chief Executive Officer of Austrian OMV Rainer Seele believes the German regulator made a proper decision when endorsed the exclusion of this gas pipeline from the Third Energy Package

MOSCOW, August 13. /TASS/. A decision to use OPAL gas pipeline capacities may be found within Nord Stream-2 project implementation framework, Chief Executive Officer of Austrian OMV Rainer Seele said on Thursday in an interview with Vedomosti newspaper.

"We finally need a decision to use OPAL capacity. Nevertheless, I am confident we will be able to come to terms within the framework of the Nord Stream-2 project. In my opinion, the German regulator made a proper decision when endorsed the exclusion of this gas pipeline from the Third Energy Package. I regret the European Commission has a different view of this issue," Seele said.

Seele said Europe needs Russian gas when speaking about Nord Stream-2 prospects. "Europe needs natural gas from Russia. I see no alternatives in the short and long term. This decision is the decision of importers, rather than politicians," Seele said.

OMV is highly interested in reinforcing Baumgarten, the key Austrian hub, and this can be done using the Nord Stream gas pipeline, Seele said.

New lines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline will not be an alternative to the South Stream project, Seele said. "These are two absolutely independent projects. The third and the fourth lines of the Nord Stream were planned even before the South Stream project," he added.

OMV has no plans to take part in the Turkish Stream project, company’s chief executive said. "We made a decision in favor of the Nord Stream. Now we will concentrate on this project," Seele said.