Source: EC has no confirmation that N Stream 2 1st thread finished

BRUSSELS/ ST. PETERSBURG/MOSCOW, Jun 7 (PRIME) -- The European Commission cannot confirm that the first thread of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline was finished, an E.U. source told PRIME late on June 4, when President Vladimir Putin said that the first thread was finished, work on the second was going on, and Gazprom was ready to fill it with gas.

“We saw these statements in mass media, but we have no confirmation of this information and we have no comment,” the source said.

German ambassador to Russia Geza Andreas von Geyr told PRIME that Berlin’s principle position over the pipeline would not change.

“Important negotiations are going on now at the level of governments of Germany and the U.S., including discussion of the Nord Stream 2, but our principal position is clear and will not change: we are sure that Europe’s energy security and Europe’s energy policy should be defined by the Europeans, not by an outsider,” he said.

Exterritorial sanctions are not applicable here as they contradict international legislation, he said.

Energy cooperation between Russia and Germany are mutually beneficial and reliable, and even the mood of German businesses in Russia is moderately optimistic, he added.

OMV CEO Rainer Seele told Rossiya 1 television channel on June 6 that Ukraine should suggest attractive conditions for gas transit to Gazprom instead of trying to block the Nord Stream 2.

“Make an attractive offer, if you offer transit capacities at good terms to Gazprom, the company will obviously consider it. You see, you can’t win competition without entering competition,” he said, when asked about Kiev’s attempts to stop construction of the pipeline.

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