KASSEL (Germany), (Sputnik) — The resolution on Nord Stream 2 recently adopted by the European Parliament does not mean anything for the further implementation of the gas pipeline project, Wintershall CEO Mario Mehren said on Thursday.
"The majority [supporting such resolutions in the European Parliament] keeps shrinking. It is interesting how those who initiated it will continue voting when they will eventually lose. The resolution has no meaning for the further implementation of the Nord Stream 2 project", Mehren said at a press conference.
READ MORE: Denmark Mulls Delaying Nord Stream 2, Causing Losses for Russia — Report
Apart from that, Mehren noted that Wintershall has invested two-thirds of the planned 950 million euros (over $1 billion) in the Nord Stream 2.
"In general, we are investing 950 million euros in Nord Stream 2, approximately two-thirds have already been allocated, somewhere over 600 million," Mehren told reporters. "The last tranche was in the beginning of March, and in general we provided two thirds, which is approximately 615-620 million euros. We have between 330 and 335 million euros, which we will provide to the project operator under contractual obligations," he specified.
He added that the company expects to receive permission from Denmark in the first half of 2019.
Mehren also stated there is no confirmation that Gazprom would halt gas transit via Ukraine in 2020.
"No one has provided us with information that gas transit would not continue. [Gazprom CEO] Alexey Borisovich Miller… told us that transit would continue after 2019, and trilateral talks between the European Union, Ukraine and Russia [on gas transit] are underway", the CEO said.
The project has met considerable opposition in the US, Poland, Ukraine, and some other countries that claim it is really a political instrument. According to media reports, Washington plans to impose new sanctions that would target the project's investors and firms employed in laying pipe for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
