MOSCOW, December 28. /TASS/. The date of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline certification is not crucially significant for the Russian side as it has alternative resources to pump gas, Russia’s Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov told an online briefing on Tuesday.
"For us the date of certification [of Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline] is not crucially significant as Gazprom has resources of gas and the possibility to pump it via the existing gas pipelines, it is another matter though that with this pumping - mainly via Ukrainian territory - it will be more expensive, with the reliability of this pumping being lower," he said.
The date of Nord Stream 2 certification is, first of all, a political issue for the European side, not "technical or legal," the diplomat said. "There is no clear position of the European Union [on the issue in question] today as the views of member states have been and remain split," he explained.
If the certification process is protracted European consumers will be hit the first, "facing the necessity to pay more for gas and wait for events to unfold," Chizhov said.
Nord Stream 2 project
The construction of Nord Stream 2 was fully completed on September 10, 2021. To start pumping gas, Nord Stream 2’s operator has to obtain the green light from the German regulator. The certification has been suspended as the Swiss-headquartered operator Nord Stream 2 AG must register a subsidiary in Germany.
Germany's Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) said earlier that it expects no decision on Nord Stream 2 to be taken in the first half of 2022.
Moscow has repeatedly emphasized that Nord Stream 2 is a commercial project, which is being implemented together with its European partners. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has expressed bewilderment that a number of countries seek to make the fate of the gas pipeline dependent on politically-motivated conditions. Russia has also repeatedly stated that it has never politically weaponized energy resources.