Tusk: Nord Stream-2 to raise EU dependence on Russian gas

BRUSSELS, Dec 18 (PRIME) -- The E.U. believes the Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline will raise the union’s dependence on Russian gas, but a final decision is for the European Commission to make, European Council’s President Donald Tusk said in a news conference Friday.

Any new infrastructure should comply with the E.U. goals, including lower energy dependence and diversification of supplies, but if Nord Stream-2 is constructed, it will raise Europe’s dependence on gas giant Gazprom and consolidate 80% of Russian gas supplies in one pipeline, he said.

It will also lead to Gazprom occupying a more than 60% share of the German gas market, which means that Nord Stream-2 does not help diversify supplies or cut E.U.’s energy dependence, he said.

In September, Gazprom signed a shareholder agreement on the 55-billion-cubic-meter Nord Stream-2 pipeline, which encompasses laying two more lines of the Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic Sea to the shore of Germany. The agreement was signed with Germany’s E.ON and BASF/Wintershall, Royal Dutch Shell, Austria’s OMV and France’s Engie.

End