Ukraine-Russia: Germany takes steps to halt Nord Stream 2

[muriel_volestrangler]

26. They're right:

Facing strong opposition, Nord Stream 2 has run into numerous obstacles that have delayed but
not stopped its construction. The start of the project goes back to 2011, just after the first Nord
Stream pipeline was inaugurated, when Gazprom and a group of major European energy companies
decided to look into the possibility of doubling the capacity of the new undersea route. In 2015,
Gazprom and five EU companies –Royal Dutch Shell, E.ON (subsequently replaced by Uniper after
the latter became a separate entity from E.ON), OMV, Wintershall and ENGIE – agreed to build the
pipeline. Initially, construction was planned as a joint venture, 50 % owned by Gazprom and the
remainder split between the five EU partners, each contributing according to their share to the total
capital of €9.5 billion.

Objections were already raised in 2016 by the leaders of eight EU countries warning of the
geopolitical and energy security risks, and by UOKiK, Poland's competition authority, on the grounds
that the new pipeline would increase Gazprom's dominance of the country's gas market. To avoid
the risk of a UOKiK fine, the five EU energy companies decided to participate in the project as lenders
rather than shareholders; thus, instead of being set up as a joint venture, Nord Stream 2 AG, the
company building the pipeline, is a fully owned subsidiary of Gazprom.

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2021/690705/EPRS_BRI%282021%29690705_EN.pdf