It points out that Nord Stream 2 did not in any way soften Berlin’s policy towards Moscow, and also that “the rise in energy prices is a global phenomenon and cannot be caused solely by Russia.”
However, the document, dated November 19, describes the steps that the Federal Republic of Germany will take at the national level, including “strong public statements” condemning Russia’s behavior. According to Axios, the German government will also “assess [возможности] restrictions or, if necessary, suspension of certain bilateral political meetings or certain formats of cooperation with Russia. ” In addition, according to the document, Berlin will “review possible restrictions” on future Russian projects for the extraction of fossil fuels.
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Leader of German Greens calls Nord Stream a strategic project
On November 9, a group of Republican senators came up with a new initiative, which provides for the imposition of sanctions against Nord Stream 2. US lawmakers have proposed an appropriate amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for fiscal 2022. If the amendment is adopted, no later than 15 days after that, US President Joe Biden will have to impose sanctions against “any organization responsible for project planning, construction and operation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, as well as against the main shareholder of such a company. In fact, we are talking about Nord Stream 2 AG, a subsidiary of Gazprom and the operator of the project. It was created for the planning, construction and subsequent operation of the gas pipeline.
In July, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Joe Biden signed an agreement that would allow Russia to complete Nord Stream 2. Berlin has promised to advocate for the introduction of sanctions against Russia if Moscow uses gas transit as an instrument of pressure on other countries, including Ukraine.
Nord Stream 2 was completed in September. It was supposed to be ready at the end of 2019, but the work was prevented by US sanctions. Because of them, some of the foreign partners left the project. According to Gazprom, the pipeline is ready for launch. For this, Nord Stream 2 AG must obtain approval from the German and then the European regulator. In Germany, the decision must be made by January 8, 2022, then the European Commission (EC) will consider it within two months. The EC also has the right to extend the deadline for another two months – until May 8, 2022, Bloomberg reported.
Bloomberg announced US forecasts for the start of operation of “Nord Stream 2”
At the end of summer, exchange gas prices in Europe began to rise sharply, and in mid-autumn they reached record levels. So, on August 30, the price for 1 thousand cubic meters. m was $ 600, on September 15 – $ 970, and on October 6 it reached its maximum and amounted to $ 1969. At the end of October, Putin, who previously called the reason for the jump in fuel prices “harsh rash actions” and mistakes of the EU authorities, instructed Gazprom to begin planned work to increase the volume of gas in European storage facilities. After that, gas prices dropped to almost $ 800 per 1,000 cubic meters. m.
In the EU, the sharp increase in gas prices was associated with the actions of Gazprom. The Russian company refused to book additional capacities for gas transit through Ukraine in August, September and October and bought only a third of the proposed transit capacity of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, which runs through the territory of Belarus and Poland, in October. A group of MEPs said Gazprom could have provoked price fluctuations to speed up the launch of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which is awaiting approval from German and European regulators. Gazprom itself denied these accusations and stated that the gas volumes were in line with the signed contracts.
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