Contents tagged with Nord Stream

  • Germany blocks ex-diplomat from becoming top manager at Nord Stream 2

    The process of "schröderization" of European officials, who find a comfortable management positions in the leadership of Russian state corporations, has been met with resistance from the German authorities.

    The German Foreign Ministry blocked the former ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Dieter Walter Haller, from joining the Gas for Europe, the German legal entity established by Gazprom's 100 percent Swiss subsidiary Nord Stream 2 AG.

    Haller received an offer to head the supervisory board of the …

  • Green party representative to head Nord Stream 2 certification in Germany

    The German Federal Network Agency, which is responsible for certification of Nord Stream 2 pipeline, will be undergoing a leadership change. On March 1, 2022, a former Greens politician Klaus Müller will take over the Federal Network Agency in Bonn (Bundesnetzagentur, BNetzA), reported the German newspaper Handelsblatt .

    The current head of the agency, Jochen Hohmann, after ten years in this position, was not eligible for a new term and is retiring at the age of 68.

    At the same time, one of …

  • EU launches investigation after Russia’s Gazprom reduces gas supplies to Europe

    The European Union is gathering information in connection with the behavior of the Russian gas conglomerate Gazprom, which in 2021 sharply reduced gas supplies to its key sales market.

    “The behavior of the Russian gas monopoly, which accounts for more than a third of all gas consumed by the European Union, raises questions,” said European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager.

    "It is indeed thought-provoking that a company, in view of increasing demand, limits supply. This is quite …

  • Ukrainian President calls on U.S. senators to support sanctions against Nord Stream 2

    Ukraine asks all its friends in the U.S. Senate to support Protecting Europe's Energy Security Implementation Act S.3436, which provides for sanctions against the Russian Nord Stream-2 pipeline, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Twitter.

    "Thank you Senator Chuck Schumer (Democratic Party) and Senator Ted Cruz (Republican Party) for agreeing to put to a vote for the suspension of the Russian Nord Stream 2," Zelensky wrote.

    The bill of the Republican Ted Cruz calls for imposing …

  • Russia admits Nord Stream 2 may never be launched

    The Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 may not pass the EU certification procedure, said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin, reports RIA Novosti.

    According to him, the certification process may last many months until the summer of 2022.

    At the same time, the U.S. may impose new sanctions which will completely invalidate the North Stream 2 certification.

    "We can imagine that the Americans will tell the Germans not to buy an ounce of Russian gas through Nord Stream. It may or may …

  • German Vice-Chancellor: Construction of Nord Stream 2 was a mistake

    The construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was a mistake from a geopolitical point of view, said the Vice-Chancellor of Germany, Federal Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Robert Habeck, in an interview with the newspaper FAZ.

    When asked whether the transition to renewable energy would lead to dependence on Russian gas and the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, Habeck said: "All European countries, except Germany and Austria, have always been against it. And now the gas pipeline has …

  • German Foreign Minister: Nord Stream 2 cannot be commissioned

    Germany's new foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, currently sees no reason to commission the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. This gas pipeline does not yet comply with the norms of European energy legislation, said Baerbock on the air of the ZDF television channel. In addition, according to her, it seems clear that "in the event of further escalation [of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict] this pipeline can no longer be connected to the gas transit network." This was agreed by the …

  • Poland: U.S. has softened its position on Nord Stream 2

    The White House has repeatedly warned Berlin about the consequences of the commissioning of Nord Stream 2, but its position has softened recently, said Polish Deputy Foreign Minister Pawel Jabłoński in an interview with the Australian Financial Review.

    "The United States opposes in words, but when it comes to concrete actions, they become much less persistent. They just retreat in the hope that we will gain ourselves a few months of calm," Jabłoński said. In his opinion, such an approach is naï …

  • Putin convinces Biden not to impose sanctions against Russian oligarchs and Nord Stream 2

    The United States withdrew all amendments on sanctions against Russia from the draft defense bill for 2022 after negotiations between Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin.

    The two-hour online summit, which the presidents held face to face, even sending interpreters to the other rooms, was the third conversation between Putin and Biden and took place after Russia moved almost all Russian troops stationed west of the Urals to the border with Ukraine.

    Biden "expressed concern" on behalf of the United …

  • European gas prices soar as Germany refuses to certify Nord Stream 2

    The European gas market is facing a threat of a new price shock after Germany refused to certify the Nord Stream-2 pipeline and demanded that the operator re-start the 4-month process and relocate assets and personnel related to the German section of the pipeline to Germany.

    Germany's Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) announced it was suspending certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

    The regulator of the German gas market said it believes that the operator of the pipeline, …