UPDATE: Nord Stream 2 sees no European pressure on Gazprom’s project

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BRUSSELS, Jul 6 (PRIME) -- Nord Stream 2, the operator of the Nord Stream-2 natural gas pipeline project of Russian gas giant Gazprom, believes that the European Commission is unlikely to block the project, Nord Stream 2’s manager for communications Jens Muller told PRIME on Wednesday.

“We see no pressure of the European Union on the countries – the four countries, whose exclusive economic zones the future Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline will cross, which are Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. We know there is a need to meet all requirements in compliance with the E.U. legislation. We do not feel an intention of the European Commission to block the project, it just wants the project to be in compliance with all current laws of the E.U.,” he said.

Nord Stream-2 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. 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.

In March, some media reported that prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Romania and Lithuania sent a letter to European Commission’s President Jean-Claude Juncker, in which they opposed Nord Stream-2 saying the project bears the risk of geopolitical destabilization. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in June that the Nord Stream-2 pipeline is an economic project.

Muller said, “But Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Poland cannot block the project just because they do not want its implementation. If there is a transboundary environmental impact, the five countries including Russia, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Finland must take this information into account before making a final decision on whether to approve (the project), including measures needed to mitigate (the potential environmental effect).”

Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Finland are expected to approve the gas pipeline project in 2017.

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