Kiev. Ukraine. Ukraine Gate – December 29, 2020 – International News
Construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline continues. The laying of the pipes was completed on a 2.6-kilometer section in the exclusive economic zone of Germany, the project operator Nord Stream 2 AG reported on December 28.
According to the Refinitiv portal, the Russian ship “Fortuna”, which laid the pipes, left the relevant area in the Baltic Sea and headed for the port in Wismar, according to Reuters.
Earlier in the day, German Foreign Minister Gaiko Maas told dpa that the German government did not intend to change its position on the completion of the Nord Stream-2 pipeline after the new administration headed by Joe Biden came to power in the United States. Berlin considers the construction of the gas pipeline a purely economic project designed to increase Germany’s energy security, especially against the background of the set climate goals and the planned abandonment of coal heat and nuclear power.
The US Congress in December included in the draft defense budget for fiscal year 2021 penalties for promoting the sale, lease or provision of pipelines for the construction of the pipeline, as well as for providing insurance coverage for ships involved in construction. However, President Donald Trump vetoed the draft budget.
Russia started building two lines of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year in 2015. The 1,220-kilometer gas pipeline was to be laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea – from the Russian village of Ust-Luga to the German Greifswald – in parallel with the already existing Nord Stream. Permits to lay pipes through their territorial waters were issued by Finland, Sweden, Germany and Denmark, and preliminary plans provided for the completion of works in 2019.
The biggest critics of the construction of this gas pipeline are the countries of Eastern Europe, including Ukraine. In Kyiv, in particular, they fear that the commissioning of this gas pipeline will weaken the importance of the Ukrainian gas transportation system as a transit country for Russian gas to EU member states.
The US government is also strongly opposed to the construction of this pipeline. Last year, Washington announced sanctions against ship operators used to lay pipes during the construction of the pipeline. After that, the Swiss contractor stopped work, and the Russians later transferred the pipeline “Academician Chersky” from the Far East to the Baltic Sea. Then the Danish authorities banned any construction work in the area of the island of Bornholm, explaining it by spawning cod.
Work resumed in December 2020 after a break of almost a year. In mid-January, the operator plans to start work in Danish waters. The Danish authorities have already stated that the water area around the construction sites of Nord Stream-2 will be temporarily declared a restricted area from January 15.
As of now, the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline is more than 90 percent built, with a section of just over 100 kilometers left to be laid.
