Kremlin: Putin praised Merkel for consistently pursuing completion of Nord Stream 2
The Kremlin press service said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are satisfied with the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline.
In turn, Merkel’s press service said that the Chancellor spoke to Putin over the phone about the construction of Nord stream-2 and the transit of gas through Ukraine.
Angela Merkel told Putin that the situation around Nord Stream 2 was discussed during the talks with the U.S. President Joe Biden.
At the same time, the Kremlin said that Putin praised "Germany’s consistency in the implementation of this project."
On July 20, Reuters wrote that Germany and the United States had reached a compromise on the Russian gas pipeline.
According to media reports, the Biden administration urged Ukraine to refrain from criticizing the agreement with Germany on Nord Stream 2.
The completion of the 10-billion-euro project, of which 5 billion was invested by Gazprom, and the remainder by five European energy companies, is expected before the end of the year, said the Energy Minister, Alexander Novak.
Two pipes with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year, laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea from the coast of Russia to Germany, were the third attempt of the Kremlin to bypass Ukraine in delivering gas to Europe.
The first, South Stream was blocked by Bulgaria, the second, TurkStream, was partially blocked by Turkey, which agreed to use only one line of Turkish Stream instead of the three that Gazprom had hoped for.
In 2019, the European Commission adopted amendments to the gas directive, which prohibit one company to be both the owner of the gas pipeline and the gas supplier.
This means that Gazprom is required to provide access to Nord Stream-2 to independent gas suppliers, and it can use only half of the capacity, 27.5 billion cubic meters per year.