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Gas may start flowing to Europe through Nord Stream 2 this year, says OMV CEO

Nord Stream 2 will provide Europe with safe access to gas, which plays an important role in the continent’s energy transition

© Bernd Wuestneck/dpa via AP

MOSCOW, July 28. /TASS/. The construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline should be completed by the end of August, and the first flow of gas via the pipeline could begin this year, CEO of Austria’s OMV Rainer Seele said at a press conference on the company’s results for the second quarter.

"I would like to keep my fingers crossed for the Nord Stream 2. The head of the company [Nord Stream 2 AG] said that the construction work would be completed at the end of August. So, we believe that the gas may be flowing this year. There is a good chance of this happening," the company executive said.

Seele noted that he expects the start-up and adjustment work at Nord Stream 2 to begin in the second half of 2021.

The OMV chief also cheered on the deal between the United States and Germany on Nord Stream 2 because it will ensure the completion of the project and the commissioning of the gas pipeline.

"Of course, I welcome the agreement between the US and Germany because it paves the way to the final completion and commissioning of the pipeline," he said.

He added that the project would provide Europe with safe access to gas, which plays an important role in the continent’s energy transition.

OMV CFO Reinhard Flory added that the company had allocated just over 800 mln euros to finance the project.

The Nord Stream 2 project envisages the completion of two lines of the gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year from the coast of Russia across the Baltic Sea to Germany. Work on the project was suspended in December 2019 after Swiss Allseas abandoned pipe-laying operations due to the then-looming US sanctions. In December 2020, the construction of the gas pipeline was resumed after a year's pause.

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