After yesterday, the now former US Ambassador Richard Grenell shortly before his departure from the American Embassy in Berlin told the German newspaper “Handelsblatt” that the new sanctions against the pipeline “Nord stream — 2” in his homeland “enjoy the support of all parties,” an anonymous source from the Congress confirmed and elaborated on this information. According to him, the two senators intend next week to make non-partisan bill, among other things, the U.S. ban on entry into ports of vessels involved in pipeline construction, as well as the freezing of assets of individuals and legal entities.
The first sanctions that the U.S. Congress was recorded in December in the appropriation act for national defense, threatened all the companies involved in the construction of Russian submarine pipelines. In response, the Swiss-Dutch firm “Ollis” (Allseas), involved in the contract the tubing of the pipeline “Nord stream — 2”, stopped working. Since then, construction work on the pipeline, which was supposed to be ready at the end of 2019, are not conducted.
“Academician of the Chersky” idle
The ship, which could finish the remaining 6% of the pipeline is the “academic plan” which from the beginning of may is laid up in the logistics centre “Nord stream — 2” on the island of rügen. The vessel was transported from the Japan sea to the Baltic. Along the way it constantly changed the places of destination — presumably to avoid U.S. ban on insurance for ships.
Why “Academic Chersky” for the past month is anchored at the construction site and not doing anything, although already in July to carry out the jointing work will be impossible because of the spawning cod, the consortium of the “Nord stream — 2” is not explained. One of the reasons may be that have not yet completed the refurbishment of the vessel. It is also possible that the “academic left” that can lay only one kilometer of pipe per day, will only accompany a more productive Russian pipelayer “fortune”.
The Danish authorities, who have long delayed the construction of the “Nord stream — 2” in other ways, now do not want to allow “Fortune” to completion, because the vessel has a 12-point system of automatic positioning of a vessel at sea. But the “academic left” is equipped with a dynamic positioning system. Therefore, the consortium of the “Nord stream — 2” can try to negotiate with the Danes about compromise and obtain their permission to pave the remaining 160 kilometers with the help of “Fortune” accompanied by a vessel with dynamic positioning.
In Germany there is no unity
In Germany the Green, and also parts of the CDU/CSU and FDP oppose the completing of the pipeline. Other parts of the CDU/CSU and FDP and the SPD, “Left”, “Alternative for Germany” and “Free voters” support the project.
The Ministry of economy of Germany, headed by CDU politician Peter Altmaier criticized the new sanctions the US plans, saying that “when the pandemic coronavirus puts enormous pressure on every country in the world”, not time “a spiral of escalation and threaten other countries further extraterritorial, that is contrary to international law, sanctions.” Franz-Josef Liskov (Franz-Robert Liskow), the representative of the CDU on energy issues in the Landtag Schwerin pointed to the link viewed the U.S. position with their “own interests in energy policy” and expressed the opinion that “it is unwise to transport us gas is expensive and environmentally less friendly way, i.e. the courts, from the US to Europe.”
For the social Democrat Christian of Pages (Christian Pegel), energy Minister of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern “and the stream — 2”, despite the resistance of countries such as Poland, is “infrastructure project of the European energy”, “resolved in accordance with the rules of the legal States”. If he was in favour of dialogue, the Minion Schwenke (Schwenke Mignon), the representative of the Left party on energy issues in the Landtag Schwerin, demanded “that the EU further escalation responded with countermeasures in the form of penalty tariffs on gas from the United States.”
The Kremlin press-Secretary of Vladimir Putin Dmitry Peskov said that the American sanctions against the “Nord stream — 2” is “not that other, as continuation of the unfair competition” and “actions which are contrary to international law”. Trade magazine “oil and gas” stated meanwhile, the assumption that gas from Western Siberia, which was supposed to go on the “Nord stream — 2” in Europe, will now be sent to China open last year, the pipeline “Power of Siberia”.
