Page 5 - FSUOGM Week 36

FSUOGM COMMENTARY FSUOGM

Only 6% of Nord
Stream 2's offshore
section is left to
complete.

treatment in Russia, where doctors ruled out been stationed for months.
poisoning, he was flown to Germany. There he Russia aims to finish the pipeline at either the
remains in a medically induced coma. end of 2020 or early 2021 – around a year behind
Relaying results from a German army hos- the original schedule.
pital, the German government released a state- Nord Stream 2 also faces a host of regulatory
ment on September 2 saying it had “unequivocal challenges. An EU court ruling means Gazprom
proof” that Navalny had been poisoned with a may have to divest the pipeline to another com-
Soviet-era Novichok nerve agent. pany and offer third-party access to its capacity,
“The German government condemns this in line with EU energy law. Poland’s regulator is
attack in the strongest possible terms,” a spokes- also conducting a probe into whether the pipe-
man for Merkel said. “The Russian government line’s financing violated competition rules.
is urgently requested to explain what happened.” Meanwhile, a bill is making its way through
Moscow, which denies all involvement in the US Congress that would inflict even tougher
attack on Navalny, announced in 2017 that it had sanctions on the project, threatening to punish
destroyed the last remaining stocks of banned European companies that assist with its comple-
chemical weapons. But Novichok, developed by tion in any capacity.
Soviet scientists, was used the following year in
the poisoning of former Russian spy and double What next?
agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter on UK soil. Newsbase believes that despite the pressure,
The UK government blamed two agents in Rus- Merkel's administration is unlikely to change its
sia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) for the position vis-a-vis Nord Stream 2. Speaking after
murder attempt. Navalny’s poisoning but before it emerged that
Novichok was used, the German chancellor reit-
Many challenges erated her support for the pipeline.
What happened to Navalny has put the German “It is a project driven by commercial actors
government in a difficult position. in Russia and Europe,” she said in a press confer-
Over the years Berlin has been a staunch ence on August 28, although she conceded that
supporter of Nord Stream 2, which will pump it has some “political implications.”
up to 55bn cubic metres per year of extra Rus- Uniper and Wintershall Dea would incur
sian gas to Germany, establishing the country substantial losses if the pipeline was blocked.
as the main hub for gas supplies in Europe. Uniper, which agreed to fund up to €950mn
Leading German energy firms Uniper and ($1.1bn) of Nord Stream 2’s costs, warned last
Wintershall Dea are financially attached to the month it might have to impair this loan if the
$11bn project, having lent funds to its Russian project is not realised.
operator Gazprom. German gas grid operators and suppliers
To say that Nord Stream 2 has had more than have also made investments and signed con-
its difficulties is an understatement. Work on the tracts on the assumption that Nord Stream 2 will
pipeline ground to a halt in December after the be completed.
US imposed sanctions against it, forcing Swiss Ultimately, the pipeline is very clearly in Ger-
contractor Allseas to withdraw. Construction many’s economic interest. It would provide the
was already running behind schedule before country, which is phasing out nuclear and coal-
this, because of Denmark’s delay in issuing fired power, with ample supplies of cheap gas,
the permits needed for the pipeline to be laid as well as substantial revenues from transiting
through its territorial waters. supplies to neighbouring states.
Just 160 km, or 6%, of the pipeline’s off- It is important to remember that Nord Stream
shore section is left to complete. Russia has its 2 was first announced in 2015, a year after Mos-
own pipe-laying vessels on standby in northern cow’s annexation of Crimea. Relations between
Europe to finish the job. The Akademik Cherskiy Europe and Russia were worse then, but this did
and Fortuna ships are moored off the German not stop Germany from signing up to the pro-
ports of Mukran and Rostok, where they have ject. ™

Week 36 09•September•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P5