MOSCOW, January 5. /TASS/. It is very unlikely that the only string of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that survived the terrorist attack will be launched under the coming presidency of Donald Trump, experts interviewed by TASS say.
The construction of Nord Stream-2 was completed on September 10, 2021. Initially, it was planned to finish it before the end of 2019, but the works were delayed due to the US sanctions. Stretched across the bottom of the Baltic Sea from the coast of Russia to Germany, the gas pipeline consists of two strings with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year. On September 26, 2022, unprecedented damage was registered on three strings of the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines. As a result, only one string of the Nord Stream 2 remained intact.
"That’s [the launch of the only string of Nord Stream 2] almost ruled out. Donald Trump will continue to promote the interests of producers and exporters of American LNG in Europe, which he openly did during his first tenure as the US President. Nord Stream is his main adversary on this route. The political readiness of Germany and the EU as a whole [to launch the pipeline] is no less doubtful," says Alexey Belogoryev, Research Director at the Institute for Energy and Finance Foundation.
Juridically, the relaunch of the Nord Stream gas pipeline is much easier to do than it was with its initial putting into operation, but it would require at least 600 million euros to restore the pipeline, Belogoryev adds.
Theoretically, chances for the resumption of the Nord Stream pipeline’s operation or the launch of its survived string remain, but in reality, one can hardly count on it, says Deputy Director General of the Institute of National Energy, and expert at the InfoTEK analytical center Alexander Frolov.
According to Alexey Grivach, deputy head of the National Energy Security Fund and an expert at the Valdai Club, there are chances for the start of Russian gas supplies via the intact string if the geopolitical situation changes.
"As the Russian authorities have repeatedly stated, this thread is technically sound and can be put into operation in a fairly short time, so the ball is in Germany's court," he said.
Can US investor buy Nord Stream-2?
In late November 2024, reports occurred that American investor Stephen Lynch expressed a wish to buy Nord Stream 2. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had not heard about Gazprom’s plans to sell Nord Stream 2 to American investors. However, at present, talks are underway in court in Switzerland with creditors of the pipeline’s Swiss operator, the Nord Stream 2 AG company, on restructuring its debt. If the parties fail to agree, this will initiate the procedure of bankruptcy of the Nord Stream 2 operator.
Most experts agree that the news about the American investor entering the project looks like his personal PR and free self-promotion.
There are no grounded intentions or sense behind such a purchase because Russia does not recognize the bankruptcy of Nord Stream 2 AG, Belogoryev says.
"So far, this infrastructure is not for sale. However, some moves are ongoing around it indeed. That is proved by the repeated introduction of US sanctions against the project, its former management, vessels, and companies involved in its construction," Grivach notes.
In turn, Maria Belova, head of the research department at the Implementa company, stresses that in case of liquidation of the company operator, all its property and liabilities will be put up for sale. In this case, there is "a non-zero probability" that an American investor can become the pipeline’s owner in the future.
"The second string is still operational. That is why in case of a change of owner, there is a great probability of both lifting the sanctions and certification of the pipeline and the possibility of using it at full capacity. The question which remains open is whether Gazprom is ready to sell it and supply its gas along this route on conditions that will be voiced by Americans," Belova concluded.