REUTERS
The construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline should be completed by the end of 2019.
Ukraine will seek to achieve compensation in the amount of US $12 billion if Nord Stream 2 is launched, according to NAC Naftogaz of Ukraine Chief Commercial Officer Yuriy Vitrenko.
Asked if Ukraine had its Plan B in case Nord Stream 2 started operating, Vitrenko said: "Yes, we filed a suit with the arbitrage on $12 billion. This is exactly the amount that reflects the compensation for the damage that Ukraine will incur if the Nord Stream 2 is built and the capacity of the Ukrainian gas transport system is not used. To this end, we have the appropriate legal capabilities. Therefore, we can now demand a revision of the tariff. We are doing exactly that on the one hand," TV Channel 5 reports.
"On the other hand, there are European rules for this tariff. And they allow us respectively reflecting the effect of the non-use of the Ukrainian GTS after 2019," the Naftogaz CCO added.
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"In this case, the very tariff level itself has no practical significance, because the decision will be made after the contract expires, so it’s just a matter of compensating for the lost tariff revenue. And this compensation is more than $12 billion," said Vitrenko.
As UNIAN reported earlier, the Nord Stream 2 project involves the construction of two strings of a gas pipeline running from the Russian coast via the Baltic Sea to Germany. The construction completion of a 1,220-km long pipeline worth EUR 9.5 billion with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters a year is scheduled for late 2019.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko earlier called on European partners to abandon the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project. "Nord Stream 2 is a 'Trojan horse' of the Kremlin against European energy and, ultimately, geopolitical security," the president said.