Photo from UNIAN
Ukraine takes all the necessary political and legal measures to prevent the construction of a second string of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, through which Russia aims to transport gas the European Union bypassing Ukraine, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said during a Q&A session in the Verkhovna Rada.
"I want to assure you that all political and legal measures are being undertaken by Ukraine to defend its national interests, including coordination of our efforts with other international partners to prevent the construction of this political project, which not only threatens national security of Ukraine but also that of other states," the prime minister said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, in early September 2015, Russia's gas giant Gazprom, Shell, OMV, and E. On signed a shareholders' agreement on a joint project company, which would be engaged in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Read alsoGazprom, partners pledge $7.5 bln to Nord Stream-2 - mediaFormer Prime Minister of Ukraine Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said that, if Russia and some Western companies build the Nord Stream 2, it would deprive Ukraine of $2 billion in profits, Slovakia – of $0.8 billion, Poland – of $0.4 billion, and would also deprive the EU of actual energy independence.
According to Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolev, the pipeline in no way contributes to the diversification of gas supplies to the EU and does not provide the European Union with access to new sources of gas. Moreover, the implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project will lead to the fact that the entry points of Russian gas supply into the EU will be almost entirely concentrated in Germany. However, the existing gas pipelines between the north of Germany and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe do not have enough capacity to deliver the necessary volumes of gas to the eastern European regions.
Read alsoPutin instructs Gazprom to proceed with laying underwater section of Turkish Stream pipelineOn April 24, 2017, Gazprom and its European partners signed an agreement on financing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
UNIAN memo. Nord Stream 2 project involves the construction of two strings of a gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas a year from the Russian coast via the Baltic Sea to Germany. A new pipeline is expected to be built next to Nord Stream.