Nord Stream 2 AG requests EU Court of Justice to cancel discriminatory measures

Business & Economy July 26, 2019, 17:21

The company also reserves the option to defend rights under int'l law by proceeding separately with arbitration against the EU pursuant to the Energy Charter Treaty investment protection guarantees

MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/. Nord Stream 2 AG, the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, requests the European Court to cancel discriminating measures against the project, the company said on Friday.

"Nord Stream 2 AG brought an action for annulment before the General Court. Nord Stream 2 requests that Directive (EU) 2019/692 amending the EU Gas Directive be annulled because of an infringement of the EU law principles of equal treatment and proportionality," the company says. "This would lead to the cancellation of Directive (EU) 2019/692 as the amendment was clearly designed and adopted for the purpose of disadvantaging and discouraging the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline," Nord Stream 2 AG noted.

"We as a prudent investor are committed to protecting our investments. But the amendment to the Gas Directive is not only harmful to Nord Stream 2. Such obvious discrimination against an individual commercial investment also undermines the ability of the EU’s internal market to attract investments for making the energy transition a reality", says Matthias Warnig, CEO of Nord Stream 2 AG, cited by the company.

Nord Stream 2 AG also "reserves the option to defend its rights under international law by proceeding separately with arbitration against the EU pursuant to the investment protection guarantees of the Energy Charter Treaty," the company noted.

Nord Stream 2 project

The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is scheduled to be put into operation in late 2019. Each of the pipeline’s two stretches will have a capacity of 27.5 bln cubic meters. The pipeline, set to run from the Russian coast along the Baltic Sea bed to the German shore, is expected to connect the Russian resource base with European customers. The total project cost of the Nord Stream 2 is estimated at 9.5 bln euro.

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