Uniper, OMV support Nord Stream-2 in wake of US sanction threats

MOSCOW, Mar 19 (PRIME) -- Austria’s OMV believes that the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline is  a purely economic project that would improve Europe’s competitiveness, while Germany’s Uniper is sure that the pipeline will be finished, representatives of the two companies told PRIME on Friday.

On Thursday, U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken again said that the companies that participate in the project risk being sanctioned by the U.S. demanding them to stop working on the pipeline.

“We are still sure that the pipeline would be finished and that the Nord Stream-2 is feasible from an energy point of view,” Uniper’s representative said, adding that U.S. sanctions have no impact on the company as it was a financial investor of the project.

“We are constantly monitoring political developments around the project, and we are in contact with the German government about it. We support the approach aimed at constructive dialogue between Germany, the E.U., and the U.S. to prevent unilateral economic sanctions.”

“OMV is one of the creditors of the Nord Stream-2 project. We see this project an economic one, which is important for both the energy security and competitiveness of Europe,” OMV’s representative said.

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 builds the pipeline together with Germany’s Uniper and Wintershall Dea, Royal Dutch Shell, Austria’s OMV, and France’s Engie.

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