REUTERS
Russians will try to create their own technical capacities to finish the pipeline, Kobolyev says.
Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev has said Ukraine is in talks with the United States and other partners on how to finally "bury" Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline if sanctions fail to bring its construction to a halt.
"The game is not over yet. Russians will try to create their own technical capacity to finish the pipeline. As we all know they are not really good at creating efficient and modern vessels. If you look at the best air carriers, that explains a lot. But still, such possibility does exist, and we are currently discussing, also here, to see how to make sure that the project is actually dead," he told the Atlantic Council in Washington on March 3, 2020.
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"We hope that U.S. government will continue in the same direction," Kobolyev said, praising U.S. sanction policy targeting companies involved in Nord Stream pipe laying, adding that it was one of the most important steps to ensure Ukraine's energy security.
UNIAN memo. The Nord Stream 2 project envisages construction and operation of two gas pipeline branches with a total throughput capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. It should connect Russia's Ust-Lug and Germany's Greifswald.
This new pipeline bypassing Ukraine is to be built next to the existing Nord Stream 1 pipeline. The construction of the pipeline was expected to be completed before the end of 2019. The pipeline will be 1,220 km long.
The project is being implemented by Russia's Gazprom in alliance with European companies – ENGIE, OMV, Shell, Uniper, and Wintershall.
Ukraine stands against the construction of Nord Stream 2 as it will most likely lose its status of a gas transit country, while its potential revenue losses are estimated at US$3 billion annually. The project is also highly criticized by the U.S., Poland, and the Baltic States.
On December 20, U.S. President Donald Trump enacted the U.S. defense budget for 2020, which provides, inter alia, sanctions against companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream pipelines. After that, the Swiss company Allseas suspended participation in the construction of Nord Stream 2.
On December 30, it became known that the company had withdrawn from participation in the project, its ships had already left the Baltic Sea.
On January 11, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Russia could complete the construction of Nord Stream 2 independently, and the pipeline would start operating, most likely, in the first quarter of 2021.