Nord Stream 2 Project Can Be Scrapped Only Due to Political Reasons - Gazprom

Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project meets all EU standards and could only be scrapped for political reasons, Alexander Medvedev, the deputy chairman of the firm’s management committee said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The planned Nord Stream 2 pipeline is expected to be able to deliver 55 billion cubic meters of Russian natural gas a year to the European Union, carrying it across the Baltic Sea to Germany while bypassing Ukraine. The launch of the pipeline is planned for 2018.

"The project follows the technological scheme of Nord Stream and all its standards, and I see no reason why we should not be allowed to go ahead, other than political," Medvedev told reporters when ask if Gazprom expected opposition from the European Union.

Gazprom set up a joint venture in 2015 with France's Engie, Austria’s OMV AG, Royal Dutch Shell, Germany's Uniper and Wintershall to bring the project to life.

The project would use the original Nord Stream pipeline for 86 percent of the route before branching off and making a landfall in Germany. It would bypass Ukraine, Poland and all three Baltic states.

A number of EU countries, notably Germany and Austria, have been supportive of the gas project but others, including Poland and the Baltics, argued it would increase energy dependence on Russia.