KASSEL, March 22. /TASS/. Poland’s concerns regarding the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction project are unnecessary, Chief Executive Officer of Germany’s Wintershall Mario Mehren said at a press conference on Wednesday.

"Poland attempted to disrupt the project and continues to do so. This is a d·j· vu for me. The same occurred in respect of the Nord Stream. This resulted in our provision of capacities from the West Europe to Poland to eliminate their fears of being isolated from gas supply. However, they actually were not in demand, probably because Russian gas costs cheaper," Mehren said.

The European Commission is not fundamentally against the Nord Stream 2, he said.

"A conclusion of European Commission’s legal service is available that this project is beyond the regulatory framework of the European Commission and laws of countries of the gas pipeline routing apply there. I do not see any fundamental opposition," Mehren said.

Government authorities regrettably oppose to the Nord Stream 2 project and "anything but Gazprom" politicizes the project, he said.

"We are disappointed to opposition of political and government authorities to our project and that we did not manage to become a shareholder of Nord Stream 2 AG joint venture [project operator - TASS]. We are supporting the project morally but we want to do so not merely on a moral basis. Definition of a new cooperation format for the project will take more time and I regret saying I cannot mention the date, when we will determine it," Mehren added.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is expected to come into service at the end of 2019. The pipeline is set to run from the Russian coast along the Baltic Sea bed to the German shore. Each of the pipeline’s two stretches will have a capacity of 27.5 bln cubic meters. The new pipeline will double the capacity of the first stretch and will basically follow its route. Capital expenditures on the project are estimated at 8 bln euro and its total cost will amount to 9.9 bln euro, taking into account project financing.