Director of the Energy Development Fund Sergei Pikin commented on Monday, January 17, on the statement of German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock, who explained the suspension of certification of the Nord Stream 2 project by the fact that it currently does not fully comply with European legal standards.
According to the expert, Burbock did not provide any new information because the certification was suspended last fall.
Pikin clarified that “an additional amount of documents was requested from the company – the operator of this gas pipeline in terms of the newly formed German subsidiary.”
He noted that the certification process will resume as soon as the documents are received by the regulator.
“It will take up to two more months from the German regulator, then it will go to the European regulator – there it will take another two to four months,” the specialist added in an interview with RT.
He also expressed the opinion that no one will speed up this process. “Europeans are apparently not afraid of gas prices. Therefore, everything goes within the framework of a bureaucratic procedure, ”he concluded.
Earlier on Monday, Annalena Burbock explained the suspension of the certification of the Nord Stream 2 project by the fact that it currently does not fully comply with European legal standards, Zvezda TV channel reports.
According to her, the German government stated in the coalition agreement that energy policy projects must comply with German and European law. According to her, this also applies to Nord Stream 2.
On the same day, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced that the commissioning of SP-2 would be a significant contribution to ensuring the energy security of the entire European Union (EU). The ministry also drew attention to the fact that the procedure for certification of the gas pipeline should be carried out in strict accordance with current regulations, Russia intends to strictly comply with them. At the same time, the Russian Foreign Ministry concluded that the certification procedure for SP-2 should not be artificially delayed and politicized.
On January 16, Tim Köhler, director of the German gas industry association Zukunft Gas, considered that the launch of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would take place during 2022. According to him, after the launch, gas prices will begin to stabilize.
On December 28, Burbock said that Nord Stream 2 plays a geostrategic role. At the same time, she stressed that for her, SP-2 is more than just a private economic project.
Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov on the same day pointed out that the issue of the timing of certification of SP-2 is political, not technical. He also noted that it is difficult to make a forecast in this regard, while the EU does not have a clearly defined position on the fate of the project. Ultimately, Chizhov pointed out, the European consumer will suffer, who will have to pay more for Russian gas and wait for further developments.
In November, the German regulator suspended the certification of Nord Stream 2 AG as an independent operator of NSP-2. The procedure can be continued when a subsidiary is created in Germany for the German part of the pipeline. Then the company promised to establish such a “daughter” in Germany to ensure compliance with the rules and regulations. After that, on December 16, Germany postponed the decision to certify the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline until at least mid-2022.
The construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was completed on September 10, 2021. It was built from Russia to Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea for the purpose of direct gas supplies to Europe. The EU countries mainly support the project and participate in its implementation. The Baltic States, Poland, the United States and Ukraine are opposed.
Source: IZ
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
