MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/. Nord Stream 2 will start negotiations to attract financing for the pipeline project in summer and Russian banks can participate in them, the company told TASS on Tuesday.
"This process has not started yet; it will begin later this summer. We expect Russian banks can provide a portion of financing," the company said.
Gazprom, Engie, OMV, Royal Dutch Shell, Uniper and Wintershall signed an agreement on deficit financing for the Nord Stream-2 project, the Russian gas holding said earlier in a statement. The agreement envisages granting a loan of up to 6.65 billion euros to the Nord Stream-2 project in case of insufficient project financing.
In April 2017 Gazprom and five European companies - France’s Engie, Austria’s OMV, British-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall signed an agreement on the new financing model for the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project.
Gazprom will remain the only shareholder of Nord Stream-2 AG company and the five European companies pledge to provide long-term financing in the amount of 50% of the total project cost which is about 9.5 bln euros. Thus, the contribution of each company will amount to 950 mln euro.
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is expected to come into service at the end of 2019. The pipeline is set to run from the Russian coast along the Baltic Sea bed to the German shore. Each of the pipeline’s two stretches will have a capacity of 27.5 bln cubic meters. The new pipeline will double the capacity of the first stretch and will basically follow its route.
Swiss Nord Stream 2 AG was established for the planning, construction and operation of the gas pipeline, which now belongs entirely to Gazprom.