Poroshenko: Gazprom's threats to terminate gas delivery contract with Ukraine another argument against Nord Stream-2
President Petro Poroshenko believes that Russia's threats not to fulfill the ruling of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce on the Naftogaz vs Gazprom case are another argument against the Russian Nord Stream-2 main gas pipeline project, as he stated at a meeting with the Minister of Defense of Sweden, Peter Hultqvist.
"Russia’s behavior…, the threats to stop gas supplies to Ukraine, to not obey the gas transit ruling of the court, and to terminate the [gas] contract, provide additional arguments and grounds to consider the energy-security for Europe as the Nord Stream-2 project monopolizes gas supplies from Russia to the EU and defies the principles of diversification," Poroshenko said.
He also expressed hope that the countries of Northern Europe would play an important role in preventing Russia from using the mechanism of gas blackmail against Ukraine and the EU.
As was earlier reported, Russia's gas monopoly, Gazprom, has begun to terminate contracts with Naftogaz following its defeat in the Stockholm Arbitration Court on February 28th.
The Stockholm Arbitration court partially satisfied the demands of Naftogaz and ruled that the Russian conglomerate had to compensate USD 4.63 billion to the Ukrainian company for the under-delivery of gas according to the transit contract signed between the two parties.
The Nord Stream-2 project envisages construction of a gas pipeline with the capacity of 55 billion cubic meters laid from the Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea.
It is expected that the route on the bottom of the sea as well as the point of entry to the gas transport system of Germany in Greifswald will be the same as the first Nord Stream launched in 2011.
In February, a group of German MPs opposed the implementation of the Nord Stream-2 project. The politicians expressed their confidence that the construction of the second phase of the gas pipeline from Russia to Germany around Ukraine would trigger "the split of the EU and loss of trust."