Uniper Received No Sanction Threat From US Over Its Participation in Nord Stream 2 Project

BERLIN (Sputnik) - German energy company Uniper has not received any sanction threats from the United States over its participation in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project for carrying Russian gas to Europe, Uniper CEO Andreas Schierenbeck told Reuters on Thursday.

"I regularly clear up my mailbox and I have not received anything like that," Schierenbeck said, noting that Uniper closely follows developments in the US and maintains contact with all the relevant agencies.

"We support the Nord Stream 2 ... We positively assess the completion of work on the first line in Germany and the fact that work in the Danish waters will resume in the coming days," the Uniper CEO added.

As the United States seeks to promote its liquefied natural gas to the European market, it actively opposes the Nord Stream 2 project — which aims at laying a 745-mile-long twin pipeline that will carry up to 1.94 trillion cubic feet of gas per year from Russia to Germany.

The US imposed sanctions in late 2019 demanding that companies immediately stop pipe-laying. The construction was suspended, as Swiss pipelay company Allseas was forced to withdraw from the project.

However, the construction was resumed in December 2020. Still, on 1 January, the US Senate voted to override outgoing President Donald Trump's veto on the 2021 fiscal year National Defence Authorisation Act, which provisions for expanding sanctions against the Nord Stream 2.

Norway's risk management company DNV GL announced just two days later it would not be able to certify the project.