Fund created in Germany to support Nord Stream 2 completion

The Mecklenburg-West Pomerania government has approved the creation of the Mecklenburg Climate Protection Fund whose main objective is to help complete the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline by bypassing U.S. sanctions.

This was reported by the Ukrainian-registered European Pravda news outlet, citing confidential documents available to Germany's Bild.

Read alsoNorway firm refuses to certify Russia's Nord Stream 2 over new U.S. sanctions – media

The publication cites a government document that states: "The government is creating a fund that supports and promotes climate action in the state through a wide range of organizations and institutions, as well as civil society activists, and at the same time can contribute to the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project."

As noted in the document, "the new U.S. sanction legislation requires the urgent creation of the fund." Thus, the German fund can independently order services for completing the gas pipeline, which should take the executors out of the action of U.S. sanctions. According to Bild, it is officially planned to spend about EUR 250,000 on this.

Moreover, Bild claims that the founders of the fund have already agreed on the terms of cooperation with Nord Stream 2 AG, a subsidiary of Russia's Gazprom.

The fund will be headed by Prime Minister of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Erwin Sellering (SPD), MEP from the Christian Democratic Union, part of the European People's Party (EPP/CDU) Werner Kuhn will be his deputy.

Previous developments

• A week ago, the United States Senate repeatedly backed the draft Defense Authorization Act for 2021, which provides for sanctions against Nord Stream 2, thus have finally overcome the veto imposed by the incumbent President Donald Trump.
• The Act provides, among other things, military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of US$250 million. It also tightens sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream gas pipelines.