2019-12-25 14:35:00
SANCTIONS AREN'T CATASTROPHIC
REUTERS - Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would be completed in a matter of months and U.S. sanctions imposed on the project last week would not be "catastrophic".
Russia's new gas transit deal with Ukraine would also mollify the impact on Russian gas supplies of U.S. sanctions introduced on the pipeline project, he said.
Last week a major contractor suspended work on the Nord Stream 2 project, which is led by Russia's Gazprom, due to U.S. sanctions introduced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday.
Around 160 km (100 miles) of the gas pipeline, which will supply Russian gas to Germany and other European countries, remains to be laid, the consortium behind the project said earlier on Monday.
The United States says the pipeline, which will run along the Baltic Sea floor, will make Europe too reliant on Russian gas. Russia says Washington is using sanctions as an economic weapon to increase U.S. liquefied natural gas sales to Europe.
"Of course we will finish building (the pipeline)... Gazprom has alternative options for how to lay it. It will take a little more time, but that's no big deal," Medvedev told journalists, adding that it could take a couple more months.
"There's nothing catastrophic about (the sanctions), especially considering the fact that we have already reached an agreement with the Ukrainians about transit," Medvedev said.
With Nord Stream 2, Russia has planned to bypass Ukraine with which it has had a number of gas disputes in the past. Over the weekend, Moscow and Kiev managed to prevent another gas conflict, signing a new five-year transit deal days before the existing one expires at the end of 2019.
Medvedev described the tariff terms of the new gas transit deal as suitable for Moscow. "It's a very humane tariff, I would say," he said.
More than 2,300 km of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline has been laid to date. The pipeline will be about 2,460 km long when completed.
After the sanctions bill was signed on Friday, Nord Stream 2 said it aimed to complete the project but did not provide details.
Russia is exporting gas to Europe via a number of routes, with Ukraine remaining the key one. Two other routes are the Yamal pipeline via Belarus and Nord Stream 1 via the Baltic Sea to Germany. Europe gets over a third of its gas needs from Gazprom.
Nord Stream 2 is aimed at doubling the existing Nord Stream 1's export capacity to a total of 110 billion cubic meters a year. Gazprom has planned to start Nord Stream 2 in the first half of the next year.
Germany is Nord Stream 2's main supporter in western Europe. A member of German Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives said on Monday that sanctions were expected to delay completion of the project by several months and increase its cost.
Medvedev has ordered the Russian government to work out retaliatory measures following U.S. sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Interfax news agency reported on Monday.
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Earlier:
2019, December, 23, 13:40:00
GAZPROM THROUGH UKRAINE: 65 BLN M3
"The organizing company [Naftogaz] will reserve transport capacities for five years in the amount of 225 Bcm, including 65 Bcm for 2020, 40 Bcm for 2021 and subsequent years, subject to the establishment of a competitive tariff," Miller told reporters.
2019, December, 23, 13:35:00
GERMANY REJECTS SANCTIONS
“Such sanctions are a serious interference in the internal affairs of Germany and Europe and their sovereignty. We firmly reject this,” Scholz told German broadcaster ARD in comments released on Saturday. But he rejected countermeasures.
2019, December, 23, 13:30:00
RUSSIA SANCTIONS EXTENDED
The EU first imposed energy sanctions in July 2014 when it limited Russia 's access to European technology and services for developing Arctic, deepwater and unconventional oil resources.
2019, December, 23, 13:25:00
NORD STREAM 2 WILL BE COMPLETED: 2020
Switzerland’s AllSeas Group SA removed vessels that were laying the last section of the pipeline connecting Russia with Germany, which was just weeks away from completion, after U.S. President Donald Trump approved sanctions targeting the project.
2019, December, 23, 13:20:00
NORD STREAM 2 SUSPENDED
In anticipation of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), Allseas has suspended its Nord Stream 2 pipelay activities. Allseas will proceed, consistent with the legislation’s wind down provision and expect guidance comprising of the necessary regulatory, technical and environmental clarifications from the relevant US authority.
2019, December, 20, 10:35:00
RUSSIA'S GAS FOR EUROPE "IN PRINCIPLE"
After hours of talks brokered by the European Commission in Berlin, Sefcovic said: "I am very glad to say we have reached agreement in principle on all key elements, which is very positive news for Europe, for Russia, for Ukraine and for the gas market."
2019, December, 20, 10:30:00
NORD STREAM 2 WILL BE COMPLETED
The U.S. has little leverage to prevent the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project between Russia and Germany from being completed, two administration officials said, acknowledging the failure of a years-long effort to head off what officials believe is a threat to European security.
