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The German Federal Network Agency has not yet received all the necessary documents for the certification of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, head of department Jochen Noman said in an interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Vedomosti reports. According to Noman, the NS 2 certification process is unlikely to be completed in the first half of the year. The initial deadline for the German Federal Network Agency's final opinion on the certification of the NS 2 pipeline as an independent operator was 8 January 2022, but that was shifted for the time taken for Nord Stream 2 AG to create a subsidiary in Germany. Earlier, the operator of the NS 2 gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2 AG, founded a German subsidiary, Gas for Europe GmbH, necessary for the certification of the project in Germany, Gazprom’s press service reported. Now, the Germany subsidiary of Nord Stream 2 AG has to submit documents to the German Federal Network Agency so that the certification process continues. Afterwards, the European Commission has up to four months to decide on the issue. There had previously been hints that the certification of Nord Stream 2 might be postponed to the second half of 2022
9.1.2 Automotive sector news
Russia's car and LCV sales (excluding Mercedes and BMW) declined 3.7% y/y to 91,662 units in January, according to the latest data from the Association of European Businesses (AEB).
While January is not particularly representative in terms of underlying trends due to low volumes and weak seasonality, this performance is in line with our expectations of a moderate decline in the first half of the year due to the relatively high base and supply constraints. We expect some improvement in 2H22. Overall, we forecast a flattish market in 2022.
Sollers saw a 1.5% y/y increase in its UAZ sales, which were 1,325 units in January. Ford Transit sales (produced by the JV with Ford, which is consolidated by Sollers) increased 11% y/y to 1,005 units. We are cautious on Sollers due to the stock's low liquidity and the uncertainties surrounding its strategy toward minority shareholders.
The market leader, AvtoVAZ, saw a 17% decline in Lada sales to 18,045 units in January. We think that this was largely due to the shortage of microchips. AvtoVAZ accounted for 19.7% of the market in January, while the AvtoVAZ-Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance controlled 35.5% of the market.
Among other Russian producers, GAZ increased its LCV sales 27% y/y to 2,660 units.
Russia’s new car and LCV sales (excluding Mercedes-Benz and BMW) decreased 19.9% y/y in December to 133,470 units, according to AEB.
90 RUSSIA Country Report February 2022 www.intellinews.com