CEO: OMV plans to invest 1 bln euros in Russia’s N Stream-2

BERLIN, Jun 23 (PRIME) -- Austria’s OMV, which owns 10% in Russian gas pipeline project Nord Stream-2, plans to invest about 1 billion euros in it, CEO Rainer Seele told PRIME on Thursday.

“We have a 10% share, as well as the other European partners. We presume that spending to finance the project will amount to 10 billion euros. In this case, our participation will translate into 1 billion euros,” Seele said.

The CEO said that Nord Stream-2 will not be fully financed with own money.

The Nord Stream-2 project envisages construction of two lines of a gas pipeline with a capacity of up to 55 billion cubic meters of gas annually, running from the Russian shore to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Russian gas giant Gazprom will hold 50% in the project, while E.ON, BASF, Royal Dutch Shell, and OMV will own 10% each, and Engie will get a 9% stake.

Ties Tiessen, a member of the executive board of Wintershall, an affiliate of BASF, said that Poland asked for 11 billion cubic meters of gas annually via Nord Stream-2. Tiessen said that the Nord Stream-2 project is heavily influenced by politics but the Polish regulator will most probably authorize it.

Deputy CEO of Gazprom Alexander Medvedev said that an auction to distribute the capacity of the overland Nord Stream-2 part will be held in 2017.

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