MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/: Expanded US sanctions against Nord Stream 2 will block about 700 mln euro of investments for completing the pipeline, the project's operator Nord Stream 2 AG told TASS.
"Additional sanctions proposed by the US will directly affect more than 120 companies from over 12 European countries. In the difficult economic situation, the sanctions will block about 700 mln euro of investments for completing construction of the pipeline," the company said.
Moreover, according to Nord Stream 2 AG, these sanctions will endanger about 12 bln euro of investments in the EU’s energy infrastructure, including about 8 bln euro invested directly in the construction of Nord Stream 2, as well as 3 bln euro invested in the development of gas transmission infrastructure in Germany, and 750 mln euro - in the Czech Republic. This infrastructure was built to deliver gas from Nord Stream 2 to markets throughout Europe.
"It should be noted that these sanctions seem designed to increase the supply of more expensive American LNG to Europe by destroying a potential competitor. In fact, without the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, European industrial and private consumers will be forced to pay billions more annually for this key energy resource," the company concluded.
Earlier, US Congressman Steve Womack tweeted that the US Senate has included additional sanctions against Nord Stream 2 in the country's defense budget.
The Nord Stream 2 project includes the construction of two pipelines with a total capacity of 55 bln cubic meters per year from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany. To date, 93% of Nord Stream 2 has been finished.
The project implementation was stopped was due to the fact that at the end of December 2019, due to US sanctions, Swiss company Allseas stopped construction of the gas pipeline. CEO of Gazprom Alexey Miller said earlier that the pipeline would be completed. In January 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that before the end of this year or in the first quarter of next year, work will be completed, the gas pipeline will be commissioned.
