German Ambassador Calls Surging Gas Prices Pan-European Issue

YEKATERINBURG (Sputnik) - The spike in gas prices on the European market is an issue for all of Europe and thus is being solved on a large scale, German Ambassador to Russia Andreas von Geyr said on Monday.

"The gas price crisis is a rather multifaceted topic. The solutions for these issues are currently being worked out. The price crisis concerns not only Germany, but it is an issue at the pan-European level, so it is being solved at a wider level. As far as we have heard, the president of the Russian Federation has also declared his readiness to contribute to solving the issue of the gas price crisis. Everyone is working on this together", the diplomat told reporters.

When asked to comment on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, von Geyr said that it has been technically completed and is ready to operate.

"Now there is the issue of certification. It must be completed legitimately, transparently. When the entire certification procedure is completed, then, accordingly, the putting of the Nord Stream 2 into operation will be open to discussion", he said.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that gas supplies from Russia would reach Europe much faster if Nord Stream was certified.

The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline stretches from the coast of Russia through the Baltic Sea to Germany and consists of two vectors with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic metres per year. Its construction was completed on 10 September. The certification process for Nord Stream 2 AG as an independent operator of the gas pipeline is currently underway to ensure that the project complies with the conditions of the 12 February EU Gas Directive.

Certification will take place in two stages. First, the German regulator, who received the full package of documents necessary for certification in September, will develop a draft decision, and then the European Commission will give its assessment.

In this April 9, 2010 file photo, a Russian construction worker speaks on a mobile phone in Portovaya Bay some 170 km (106 miles) northwest of St. Petersburg, Russia, during a ceremony marking the start of construction for the Nord Stream pipeline.

© AP Photo / Dmitry Lovetsky

Europe has seen a sharp increase in fossil fuel prices, especially natural gas, driven by growing energy demand amid the global economic recovery after months of coronavirus lockdowns, as well as limited supply.

In early October, Putin said that the Russian energy giant and the EU's main gas supplier, Gazprom, has adhered to all of its contractual obligations on gas supplies to the bloc.