The operator of the Nord Stream 2 project, Nord Stream 2 AG, said that it did not agree with the decision of the Supreme Land Court of Dusseldorf and would later announce its next steps. Earlier today, on August 25, the court ruled that the EU gas market rules are applicable to the Russian Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
“The rejection of Nord Stream 2’s application for an exemption demonstrates the discriminatory impact of the amended EU gas directive. As of the effective date of the amendments on May 23, 2019, the gas pipeline was completed in terms of financial support. Based on the legal framework in force at the time, the company made an investment of several billion euros long before the European Commission announced its plan to amend the EU gas directive, ”the company said in a statement (quoted by RIA Novosti).
The company notes that the refusal of the German Federal Grid Agency to issue an exception to the project does not take into account the principles of investment protection and allows a narrow interpretation of the term “completed”. Nord Stream 2 AG recalled that consideration of its complaints about amendments to the gas directive continues in the European Court of Justice.
Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, commenting on Germany’s refusal to exempt the gas pipeline from the norms of the EU gas directive, said that this is a “corporate issue” and that the operator Nord Stream 2 AG should decide.
More details about the impact of the EU gas directive on the gas pipeline – in the material “Kommersant” “Dilution of the northern streams”.
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