Kremlin still sees Nord Stream-2 as most reliable gas route to EU

MOSCOW, Feb 8 (PRIME) -- Moscow still sees the Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline as the most economically sound and reliable route for delivery of natural gas to the E.U., President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.

“We are still sure that the project lies within the interests of gas consumers and of Russia as a gas supplier. We are still sure that it is much better from an economic point of view than any other competitive routes of delivery of the blue fuel to the European continent,” he said.

“We are still sure that there couldn’t be a safer and more reliable route of gas supplies to Europe.”

On Thursday, a representative of the French Foreign Ministry said that France planned to support revision of the E.U. gas directive, under which the third energy package can be applicable for the Nord Stream-2 retroactively.

The Nord Stream-2 project envisages construction of two lines of a natural gas pipeline with an annual capacity of up to 55 billion cubic meters, running from the Russian shore to Germany under the Baltic Sea. Gazprom will implement the project together with Germany’s E.ON and BASF, Royal Dutch Shell, OMV, and France’s Engie.

The U.S. opposition to the Nord Stream-2 is incompatible with fair competition, as Washington is trying to make the E.U. buy gas that is 30% more expensive, he said.

The Nord Stream-2 will not raise E.U. dependency on Russian gas, as it ensures codependency to the same degree. “As much as Europeans are dependent on Russian gas, Russia is dependent on European demand as a supplier,” he said.

Peskov also said that British oil giant BP’s CEO Robert Dudley on Thursday suggested that Putin sets up roundtable talks with representatives of the British businesses that continue working in Russia, and that Putin supported the proposal.

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