US sanctions on Nord Stream 2 will affect more than 120 companies from 12 European countries

“We have taken note of the new recommendations under the US PEESA Act, issued by the US Department of State on October 20. (…). Any threat of sanctions to the Nord Stream 2 project affects participating Western European contractors and investors. If imposed, the sanctions will directly affect more than 120 companies from more than 12 European countries, ”said a statement from Nord Stream 2 AG, a Swiss-based company.

As already announced, the US administration on Tuesday extended restrictive measures to the Nord Stream 2 project to prevent its completion.

The US State Department has warned that restrictive measures introduced in late 2019 on Nord Stream 2 will also apply to companies providing services or funding to upgrade or modernize equipment on ships that could be involved in the project.

Nord Stream 2 is being built at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, at 94%. its implementation stuck 10 billion. A project worth one billion euros would double the volume of Russian gas delivered to Germany, Europe’s largest economy.

This project has long been in the sights of the United States, which has criticized European countries for their dependence on Russian energy supplies.

Following the announcement of sanctions on Nord Stream 2 by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, on December 20, 2019, the construction of the pipeline by three special vessels of the Swiss company Swiss Allseas was immediately stopped.

In July, both houses of the United States Congress approved a defense budget bill that includes an extension of the sanctions on Nord Stream 2 to companies involved in its completion. In particular, the project provides penalties for the sale, rental or transfer of oil pipeline vessels, as well as for the intermediation in said transactions, the insurance and reinsurance of said vessels, their technical modernization and the creation of conditions for this.