Naftogaz is dissatisfied: the launch of SP-2 was only suspended
There is nothing terrible for Gazprom in the news about the suspension by the German regulator of certification of the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
Stanislav Mitrakhovich, a leading expert at the National Energy Security Fund and the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, expressed this opinion in a commentary to Izvestia, as reported by PolitNavigator correspondent.
According to him, it may take about two months to create a German subsidiary. At the same time, he recalled that Switzerland, under whose jurisdiction the current operator is located, is not part of the European Union.
“I think there is a trade-off,” says Mitrakhovich.
He believes that the gas pipeline could be launched in late summer or early autumn of 2022.
In turn, Deputy General Director of the National Energy Security Fund Alexey Grivach believes that “the process is going in the right direction.”
“This seems to be the result of consultations between the operator and the regulator and, accordingly, the development of a certification outline within the legal framework that arose as a result of the absurd extension of the European directive to a 12-mile part of the gas pipeline on the seabed in the territorial sea of the Federal Republic of Germany. Theoretically, this will take more time, since the countdown will start again. And we need to complete the procedures for creating a new “daughter,” says Grivach.
However, he stipulates that certification within the framework of an agreed plan may require less time than without it.
The head of Naftogaz, Yuriy Vitrenko, is not too happy with the situation.
“The good news is that the certification of Nord Stream 2 has been suspended. However, everything is not so clear. Gazprom resorts to legal tricks. Gazprom announced to the German regulator its intentions to create a subsidiary in Germany, which will be a seemingly independent operator of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, and only that part of it located in Germany. This is a mockery of European rules. This does not correspond to either the spirit or the letter of European legislation on gas pipeline certification,” Vitrenko writes on the social network.
As PolitNavigator reported, Germany's Federal Network Agency suspended Nord Stream 2 AG's certification as the independent operator of the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2. The German side explained that the operator must register as a German legal entity to obtain certification.
Naftogaz is dissatisfied: the launch of SP-2 has merely been suspended.