Russia announces Nord Stream 2 launch time
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak said that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will become operational "in the middle of the next year [2020]," without specifying the exact month, reports TASS.
Earlier, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak reported that gas supplies through the Nord Stream 2 pipeline could begin before the end of 2019. "Depending on the schedule of this project, we will decide when the construction of the pipeline can be continued," said Novak.
On November 13, the German Parliament adopted a bill to amend the updated EU Gas Directive. According to the document, the same rules will be applied to the gas pipelines of third countries passing through the territory of the European Union, as to domestic ones. Therefore, EU Gas Directive also affects the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will pass along the bottom of the Baltic Sea through the territories of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany. Its planned capacity is 55 billion cubic meters of gas. The authorities of the USA, Poland, Ukraine, as well as the Baltic countries actively oppose the implementation of the gas pipeline project. The estimated cost of this project is €9.5 billion. The sole shareholder of Nord Stream 2 AG is a Russian gas company Gazprom. Five oil and gas companies from Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, and France have invested in this project.
In mid-November, it was reported that the first line of the 480 km long European Gas Pipeline Link (EUGAL), which will transport gas from Nord Stream 2 to the South of Germany, will become operational on January 1, 2020.