The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction, which will bring gas from Russia to Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea, will undoubtedly be completed this year. Viktor Zubkov, chairman of the board of directors of the Russian company Gazprom, told reporters. The US government is trying to block the project, both the current one led by President Joe Biden and the previous one led by Donald Trump.
“Active work continues. Only a short distance remains to be completed,” Zubkov said. “They will be completed this year, definitely,” he added. According to him, the gas pipeline is already 90 to 92 percent complete.
Nord Stream 2 aims to double the existing Nord Stream gas pipeline’s transmission capacity to 110 billion cubic meters per year. The project has become even more politicized this year in connection with Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny’s imprisonment.
The gas pipeline construction was interrupted in December 2019, when work was stopped by the Swiss company Allseas. It specializes in laying pipes, forced to stop work by the threat of sanctions from Washington. Last December, laying was resumed by Nord Stream 2 AG, and construction work is now continuing off the coast of Denmark.
A month ago, the German reinsurance company Munich Re also withdrew from the Nord Stream 2 project due to fears of sanctions, according to the Reuters agency. The US government is threatening sanctions to European companies participating in the project. The United States says Europe is far too dependent on Russian energy. According to analysts, however, the effort to block construction is also due to the United States’ efforts to gain a foothold in the European natural gas market.
The Nord Stream 2 project is led by the Russian gas company Gazprom, in which the state has a direct say. About half of the funding was provided by the German companies Uniper and Wintershall, the British-Dutch company Shell, the Austrian OMV, and the French Engie.