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Attempts to block Nord Stream 2 do not meet European interests — Wintershall CEO

Certain East European countries attempt to disrupt implementation of the Nord Stream 2 and put pressure on Brussels, Mario Mehren said

KASSEL, March 7. /TASS/. Attempts to block implementation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project do not meet European interests, Chief Executive Officer of the German company Mario Mehren said on Wednesday.

"Certain East European countries attempt to disrupt implementation of the Nord Stream 2 and put pressure on Brussels. And such tricks are made there that they become a subject matter of criticism for the internal legal service. This may be a political consideration but it definitely does not meet interests of European consumers," Mehren said.

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The cold weather settling in Europe serves as one more argument in favor of the project, Mehren noted.

"It was very cold last week but you did not notice that because you received gas from Russia. Premises were heated well particularly owing to the Nord Stream. I would recommend not to overestimate influence of Poland. Too much attention should not be paid to countries accounting for 1 or 2% of the overall consumption in Europe," he added.

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 that is expected to connect the Russian resource base with European customers, will double the capacity of the first line and will basically follow its route. The total project cost of the Nord Stream-2 is estimated at 9.9 bln euros.

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