Russia to finance Nord Stream 2 if US imposes sanctions
The construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which will connect Russia and Germany directly, may be financed even if Washington places sanctions on the European companies involved in the project, Nord Stream 2 CFO Paul Corcoran told Welt am Sonntag in an interview.
“The project will definitely be financed. It is important for Gazprom, and Russia currently has a large liquidity reserve in euros,” Corcoran emphasized.
According to the CFO, the initiative may be realized even without western capitalization if needed.
Gazprom has not officially commented on Corcoran’s statement.
Alongside Gazprom, a number of European companies are involved in the realization of the Nord Stream 2 project, including the Austrian concern OMV. To date, eight investors have contributed $4 billion towards the gas pipeline, which is designed to connect Russia’s Ust-Luga to Germany’s Greifswald.
The pipeline, which will be laid in parallel to the first Nord Stream, will span a total of 1220 kilometers.
Earlier the media received information that the Trump administration is preparing to place sanctions on the energy companies from Germany and other European countries that are involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2.
The construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is expected to begin in 2018 and be completed by the end of 2019. The 1220-km pipeline will run along the bottom of the Baltic Sea from the Russian coast to the coast of Germany. The capacity of each of the two lines is 27.5 billion cubic meters per year.
The new gas pipeline will double the capacity of the first Nord Stream, the route of which it will basically repeat.