[ad_1]
Due to the threat of sanctions, the German company Bilfinger SE terminated cooperation with Nord Stream 2 AG, the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, German newspaper Bild reported. According to the newspaper, Bilfinger SE had several contracts with Nord Stream 2 AG for a total of 15 million euros.
German construction company Bilfinger SE pulled out of the Nord Stream 2 project for fear of US sanctions. This was reported by the German newspaper Bild on January 19, referring to the correspondence of the company, with which he was able to meet.
According to the newspaper, Bilfinger SE notified the United States in December of its intention to terminate its association with the project, and last week confirmed that it was withdrawing from construction. This is the first German company to abandon the project.
According to Bild, Bilfinger SE has a gas pipeline operator Nord Stream 2 AG – Several contracts have been awarded for development, supply and maintenance of security systems, as well as for the supply of a heat generating unit. The volume of the transaction is 15 million euros.
The firm assured Washington that it had terminated the contracts and that adhere to the provisions of the European Energy Safety Protection Act (PEESCA), writes the newspaper.
Swiss insurer Zurich Insurance Group also pulled out of the project, Bloomberg reported Jan. 15. The reason was called US sanctions provided for in the country’s defense budget for 2021. This information was confirmed by TASS is the official representative of the Thomas Baer company. Zurich Insurance Group has canceled all insurance coverage that falls under the restrictions, Baer said.
Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline that is supposed to connect Russia with Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The length of the route is more than 1200 km, the capacity of the new gas pipeline will be 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The cost of the project was reported to be € 9.9 billion, is financed by the Russian “Gazprom” and five European companies: Anglo-Dutch Shell, German Wintershall and Uniper, French Engie and Austrian OMV.
Authorities in the USA, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia consider “Nord Stream 2” a threat to Europe’s energy security.
The construction of the gas pipeline began in 2018. In December 2019 fromconstruction froze because The United States imposed sanctions on European contractorsparticipating in the project. At that moment 93% of the pipeline was completed, the official pipeline operator Nord Stream 2 AG reported.
A year later, on December 11, 2020, construction resumed. Until construction of two pipeline lines is completed, a total of 160 kilometers remain “with a little”, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on December 17.
December 11 United States Senate after House of Representatives supported the country’s defense budget project by 2021, which provides for tougher sanctions against Nord Stream 2, but the US president Donald Trump vetoed it… January 1, 2021 in the US Congress. Trump is “easily vetoed”… 81 senators voted “in favor”, 13 “against”.
On January 19, the United States Department of the Treasury imposed new sanctions against companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. In particular, the sanctions affected the Russian vessel Fortuna and its owner, the KVT-RUS company, as well as the Rustanker company, the Maxim Gorky tanker and the Sierra tanker for the transportation of crude.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine welcomed this decision.
The Russian Gazprom allowed for the first time the possibility of suspension of the implementation or complete cancellation of the Nord Stream 2 project.
[ad_2]
