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Anti-Russian sanctions

US imposes sanctions on Fortuna vessel involved in Nord Stream 2 construction

Earlier, in an interview with TASS, head corporation department of Fitch agency Dmitry Marinchenko said that sanctions against the Fortuna barge, which is completing the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea, will hardly be able to stop the project, but will complicate the construction

Pipe-laying vessel Fortuna Jens Büttner/picture alliance via Getty Images

Pipe-laying vessel Fortuna

© Jens Büttner/picture alliance via Getty Images

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US to slap sanctions against Nord Stream 2 pipe-layer Fortuna on Tuesday

WASHINGTON, January 19. /TASS/. The US authorities introduced sanctions restrictions against the Fortuna vessel, which is involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, and its owner, the KBT-Rus company, the US Treasury Department announced on its website on Tuesday.

The sanctions were imposed in the framework of the CAATSA (Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act). Inclusion in the sanctions list means asset freezing in the United States and the ban for US citizens or firms on engaging in business with persons in the list.

On Tuesday, the US authorities also imposed restrictions on those individuals and legal entities, as well as courts, which, as Washington believes, are "attempting to evade United States sanctions on Venezuela’s oil sector." This list, in particular includes Russian-flagged crude oil tankers Maksim Gorky and Sierra and Russia-based company Rustanker, which owns the Sierra vessel.

Earlier, in an interview with TASS, head corporation department of Fitch agency Dmitry Marinchenko said that sanctions against the Fortuna barge, which is completing the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea, will hardly be able to stop the project, but will complicate the construction.

The Nord Stream 2 project contemplates the construction of two pipeline strings with a total capacity of 55 bln cubic meters per year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. To date, more than 2,300 km of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has been laid (out of approximately 2,460 km), or 94% of the total length of the gas pipeline. The construction of the pipeline was suspended in December 2019 after Switzerland's Allseas stopped pipe-laying due to possible US sanctions. In December 2020, project operator Nord Stream 2 AG resumed pipe laying, building a 2.6 km pipeline in the German exclusive economic zone using the Russian pipe-laying barge Fortuna. Gazprom counts on commissioning of Nord Stream 2 within a reasonable time frame. The holding notes that Nord Stream 2 remains one of its priority investment projects in 2021.

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Sanctions vs. Russia

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