Report: US Senate may adopt law on sanctions over Nord Stream-2

MOSCOW/BRUSSELS, May 14 (PRIME) -- The U.S. Senate may adopt a law introducing sanctions against European companies and ships involved in construction of the Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, Foreign Policy magazine reported on Tuesday citing a draft copy of the bill.

“The bill, sponsored by Sens. Ted Cruz, a Republican, and Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, would sanction companies involved in laying deep-sea pipelines for Russian energy projects, taking direct aim at the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which has emerged as a major source of tension between the United States and Germany,” the report said.

“The bill would put under scrutiny two companies that have contracts to lay pipes for Nord Stream 2: Switzerland’s Allseas and Italy’s Saipem, two of only a handful of companies worldwide that operate pipe-laying vessels,” the report said.

On Monday, the European Commission responded to a request of the Nord Stream-2 project’s operator Nord Stream 2 AG saying its experts were ready to listen to arguments on excluding the project from the new E.U. gas directive.

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. Russian gas giant Gazprom is implementing the project together with Germany’s E.ON and BASF, Royal Dutch Shell, Austria’s OMV, and France’s Engie.

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