Two pieces of news relating to the Russian gas pipeline project “Nord stream”, came almost simultaneously. One good for Russia: the German energy regulator has released the current project “Northern stream” (SP) for 20 years from the action of the EU Gas Directive. That pipe Russian gas can, as before, without any restrictions to flow to Germany and other European consumers. The second bad news: the European court rejected the claim of the company-operator, the construction of the pipeline “Nord stream-2” (SP-2), seeking the same privileges. Previously all the same German energy regulator found that the new European legislation extends to an unfinished pipeline, this means that in the future, “Gazprom will have to share the pipe, to which he clearly is not. What is behind these decisions and how they threaten the ambitious Russian gas projects, “MK” has found out from the experts.
the Federal network Agency of Germany has provided the pipeline “Nord stream” possibility of derogating from the application of the fundamental provisions of the EU Gas Directive, said the evening of may 20 Nord Stream AG – operator of the project. The decision is really 20 years and will commence retroactively from December 12, 2019. Nord Stream AG, in his commentary notes that when considering the application of the German regulator said that the gas pipeline has contributed to security of supply and could not harm competition in the European gas market.
Recall that the TRANS-Baltic gas pipeline venture, the 1,224-kilometer capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year, was introduced in November 2011. At the moment it pumped more than 345 billion cubic meters of gas.
A few hours earlier, the European court (European Court of Justice) rejected the claims 2 Nord Stream AG (the operator SP-2) and the law on gas. The contested Directive entered into force on 23 may 2019 and had to be transposed into national law by February 24, 2020. It requires operators of highways to carry out the allocation of property level operations on transport, to implement non-discriminatory system of third party access to transmission systems and distribution on the basis of publicly published rates.
For Nord Stream AG 2 this will mean a complete change in the legal structure, which will significantly weaken the capacity to Finance the implementation of the project, the report cited the court the position of the plaintiff.
the Construction “SP-2” began in 2018, it is planned to finish in 2019, however, the plan failed. At the end of 2019 because of the US sanctions the contractor of “Gazprom”, the Swiss company Allseas has suspended work and took all their ships, who built the “SP-2”. Currently, it is believed that the piping will hold a domestic vessel “Aka��emik Chersky” standing “under steam” in the German port and logistics center NordStream 2. In “Gazprom” in mid-February 2020 announced that the gas pipeline will be launched at the end of this – early next year.
Experts of “MK” given the conflicting predictions on the future of the troubled Russian pipelines.
Mikhail KRUTIKHIN, partner of RusEnergy:
“Even if we imagine that the project “North stream-2”, like its predecessor, will be exempt from European legislative measures, this does not mean that the final construction and subsequent commissioning will be carried out in the stated period. There are suspicions that the only Russian ship capable of such a job -“Academician Chersky” for about six months ran from the Findings to the Baltic sea, still does not have the necessary technological equipment for laying the remaining 160 km of pipeline. However, even if the capacity to complete the project, then immediately after it starts to force the us sanctions, which would impose more restrictive measures on the owners of the vessel: to suffer may be subsidiaries of “Gazprom” and specific managers and shareholders of the gas company and dependent contractors”.
Sergey PIKIN, Director of energy development Fund:
“In this case we should expect new lawsuits, particularly from Poland, that has been extremely aggressive against the completion of the “Nord stream – 2″. Berlin was initially interested in this project was: it is extremely beneficial for the economy and energy in Germany. Most experts expected that the decision on its final commissioning, the construction of 160 km of pipeline to connect the most senior politicians of Germany and leading German businessmen. It happened – as evidenced by the decision of the German regulator in favor of SP. As for SP-2, the pipeline in any case completed. However, its entry into full operation may take a few years. The best solution is the establishment of the international company, which would manage supply in this area. If its equity will be major international players, to organize sanctions against them will be extremely difficult.”
