Status: 08/19/2021 5:47 p.m.
The Russian state company Gazprom is putting pressure on it. Although the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea is not yet ready, he plans to deliver billions of cubic meters of gas through the pipelines by the end of the year.
One day before Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, the Russian Gazprom group surprisingly announced that it would transport gas to Germany through the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Baltic Sea this year. We are talking about 5.6 billion cubic meters.
The construction is not yet completely finished. According to earlier information from the operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, the laying work should be completed by the end of this month. However, there is not yet a date when the pipeline can go into operation.
Gazprom announced that 33.7 billion cubic meters of gas had been pumped to Germany via the existing Nord Stream 1 pipeline in the first seven months of the current year. The Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which is 99 percent complete, is expected to have a transport capacity of 110 billion cubic meters per year. The pipeline runs from Vyborg in Russia through the Baltic Sea to Lubmin near Greifswald in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
US special envoy for pipeline project
The project was controversial for years. Ukraine, as the most important transit country for Russian gas to Western Europe so far, feared being weakened and suffering severe revenue losses. The USA and almost all European countries accuse the federal government of increasing their dependence on gas supplies from Russia. During her recent visit to Washington with US President Joe Biden, the Chancellor was able to reach an agreement so that the pipeline can be completed and put into operation.
However, Biden has appointed Amos Hochstein as special envoy for the Nord Stream 2 project. Hochstein is considered a bitter opponent of the gas pipeline. Now the US diplomat should make sure that Berlin keeps all the promises it has made. Hochstein accused Germany of making itself subject to blackmail with the project. After all, Russian President Vladimir Putin could turn off the gas supply at any time.
The project should also be a topic of conversation when Angela Merkel visits Putin tomorrow in Moscow. Two days later, the Chancellor stops in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, shortly before Ukraine celebrates the 30th anniversary of its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union on Tuesday. Merkel will also have to prepare for further criticism on the subject of Nord Stream 2 in Kiev. “We take the concerns of the Ukrainian side very seriously,” said government spokesman Steffen Seibert. Germany continues to advocate that Ukraine remain a transit country for Russian gas.