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US Sanctions Not to Hamper Nord Stream 2 Financing

US Sanctions Not to Hamper Nord Stream 2 Financing
US Sanctions Not to Hamper Nord Stream 2 Financing

Russian energy giant Gazprom will still be able to finance the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project even if US sanctions are imposed on Western European partners in the project, the Nord Stream 2 chief financial officer said.

“The project will definitely be financed. It is important for Gazprom, and Russia currently has a high liquidity in euros,” Paul Corcoran was also quoted as saying by Reuters.

He said sanctions against Russia could even result in more financing options for Nord Stream because they have helped increase Moscow’s foreign exchange reserves.

Corcoran's comments come after Germany said last week it had been assured by the US that any sanctions imposed on Russia would not affect the building of a gas pipeline to bring Russian gas to Europe even though the United States said there had been no change in its policy.

The Nord Stream 2 consortium, an initiative of five European companies and Gazprom, started preparatory work in the Greifswald Bay off Germany’s Baltic coast on a new twin pipeline last month.

The new pipeline will double Russia’s export capacity of 55 billion cubic meters to Germany.

Eastern European and Baltic states fear it will increase Europe’s reliance on Russian gas and undermine Ukraine’s lucrative gas transit route. The United States also opposes it, contending that it could undermine Europe’s energy security.

Germany has been assured by the United States that any sanctions imposed on Russia will not affect the building of a gas pipeline to bring Russian gas to Europe, a spokeswoman for the German economy ministry said.

The spokeswoman said guidelines provided by the United States suggested that the construction of Nord Stream 2 would be unaffected.

“We have received assurances that gas pipeline projects will be excluded from the sanctions,” the spokeswoman said during a regular government news conference last week.

Wintershall, an oil and gas subsidiary of Germany’s BASF, defended its partnership with Russia in Nord Stream 2, saying this was a more stable option than liquefied natural gas.

 

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