/ www.vestifinance.ru
The Nord Stream gas pipeline, which Russia's gas monopoly Gazprom uses to transport natural gas along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to the EU countries bypassing Ukraine, has stopped operations for scheduled repairs on September 11-22, according to the website of Nord Stream AG, operator of the gas pipeline.
"Nord Stream AG will be conducting long-planned annual maintenance works on its twin gas pipelines system between September 11 and 22, 2017. This routine maintenance work will require a temporary shutdown of both lines," the report says.
It includes annual maintenance of mechanical components, as well as testing of the automation system.
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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. The latter is expected to complement the already operating Nord Stream 1. At the end of April 2017, Gazprom and its European partners signed an agreement on the financing of the Nord Stream 2.
Former 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.
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.