Russia’s Gazprom claims Nord Stream 2 construction has been completed
According to the press service of Gazprom, by the chairman of the company's board Alexei Miller announced at the morning operational meeting that the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has been fully completed.
According to Miller, the construction that lasted three years was completed on Friday, September 10, at 8.45 Moscow time.
According to Bloomberg, Gazprom plans to start supplying gas through the first line of the pipeline from October 1, and through both lines - from December 1.
According to Gazprom, the volume may reach 5.6 billion cubic meters by the end of the year.
"So far, the project cannot operate at full capacity due to restrictions related to the European gas directive," says Dmitry Marinchenko, director of the natural resources and commodities group at the international rating agency Fitch.
EU gas legislation prohibits one company from being both a gas supplier and an infrastructure owner, requiring that independent suppliers have access to the pipeline, which in the case of Nord Stream 2 means that Gazprom cannot use more than 50% of pipeline’s capacity.
Gazprom's attempts to achieve an exception to this rule have so far failed. Neither the German gas market regulator nor the courts agreed to exempt the project from the third energy package regulations.
"But it is possible that in order to encourage Gazprom to maximize gas supplies into gas storage facilities and exports amid gas shortage and ultra-high prices, the gas directive may still be canceled," Marinchenko said. "This would, in theory, allow the pipeline to be fully used by the end of the year."
The pipeline certification can probably also be obtained relatively quickly, Marinchenko says: "It's a matter of weeks, hardly months."
Former President of the European Council, former Prime Minister of Poland and leader of the largest Polish opposition party Civic Platform, Donald Tusk, called the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline a big mistake made by Germany.
"I believe that this is an unforgivable mistake with very serious consequences. A mistake stemming from the selfish politics of pursuing German interests," he said. "This contradicts the interests of the EU as a whole, not to mention Poland and Ukraine," he said in an interview with TVN24.
According to Tusk, German Chancellor Angela Merkel in conversations with him often said that she knew that Nord Stream 2 is "bad for the European Union."