Nord Stream 2 AG is currently working with financial advisors to arrange parts of its liabilities and could officially file for bankruptcy in Switzerland this week, two people familiar with the plans told Reuters news agency.
Nord Stream 2 is owned by the Russian state gas company Gazprom. However, half of the $11 billion (almost €10 billion) project was financed by the energy and oil giants Shell, OMV, Engie, Uniper and Wintershall DEA. With the 1,230-kilometer pipeline through the Baltic Sea, Russia wanted to double the capacity for natural gas deliveries to Germany. Nord Stream 2 is finished, but the German government had put its commissioning on hold because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
According to earlier information, OMV financed around 730 million euros for the around 9 billion euro line. CEO Alfred Stern recently said that OMV had already received the first repayments on its loan last year. OMV recently saw no need for depreciation.
As part of the sanctions against Russia last week, the US Treasury Department had demanded that all transactions with Nord Stream 2 AG and its majority holdings be settled by March 2 (Wednesday). Nord Stream 2 could not be reached for comment, and Gazprom declined to comment on the information. The German energy giant Uniper said it was unaware of an upcoming bankruptcy filing. The other co-financiers could not be reached for comments or did not comment.
Source: Nachrichten
