Germany Should Immediately Launch Nord Stream 2, Bundestag Vice Speaker Says

BERLIN (Sputnik) - Germany should immediately launch the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to ensure the country's energy security, Bundestag Vice Speaker Wolfgang Kubicki said on Friday.

"Federal Minister for Economic Affairs must do everything so that we have more energy. We should immediately launch Nord Stream 2 in order to fill our gas storage facilities for the winter," Kubicki told the German media group RND.

According to the politician, Russian gas does not get better or worse depending on which pipeline it comes from. "Gas in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is not any different from the gas in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. It's just a different pipeline," he added.

Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline project with a capacity to carry 55 billion cubic meters per year, enabling gas transit from Russia across the Baltic Sea to Germany. It was implemented by Nord Stream 2 AG with the only shareholder, Russian energy giant Gazprom. The pipeline's construction lasted for three years and was completed in 2021. However, in response to the special operation in Ukraine, Western countries imposed a series of sanctions on Russia, with Germany halting certification of the ready-to-operate Nord Stream 2.

Currently, there are speculations about a possible energy collapse in Germany in the winter due to a halt in Russian gas supplies. Economy Minister Robert Habeck and the head of the German Federal Network Agency, Klaus Muller, urged citizens to reduce electricity consumption in order to save money and energy.