North Stream 2: Germany suspends gas pipeline permit

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Tuesday that Germany had taken steps to suspend the certification process for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia, Deutsche Welle reported.

Scholz told reporters in Berlin that his government was taking action in retaliation for Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was completed on September 10th. However, the operator of the gas pipeline had to obtain the approval of the German regulator to pump the gas, but in early December Germany withheld the certification for the Nord Stream 2, i.e. the approval to send the gas.

The official reason at the time was that its operator Nord Stream 2 AG, owned by Gazprom, was registered in Switzerland, not in Germany. And it is against German law.

At the end of December, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak argued that certification for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline should be completed by the end of the first half of 2022, and that the recession in certification at the time was political. Environment.

North Stream 2 is a 1,200 km long, two-pipe gas main project that runs through the Baltic Sea. It is expected to carry 55 billion cubic meters of gas through the Baltic Sea. Therefore, Gazprom will supply this raw material to Western Europe via Germany, excluding Poland and Ukraine.