Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday confirmed that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that directly supplies gas to Germany is ready for operation, adding that this will help reduce Europe’s soaring gas prices.
During a meeting on the autumn-winter heating season, Putin congratulated Alexei Miller, the CEO of the Russian-state controlled oil and gas company Gazprom, for filling the second link of the pipeline with technical gas. “As soon as they (European partners) make a decision on the start of its operation, large additional volumes of Russian gas will immediately flow to Europe,” Putin added.
The Russian leader further argued that starting the pipeline will have immediate impacts on European gas prices, saying, “This new additional route will certainly help stabilise prices on the European markets [and] will undoubtedly affect the price on the market, on the spot.” He also mentioned that the pipeline will be beneficial to Ukraine, saying: “Of course, this will also affect the price for a country like Ukraine, which for political reasons, unfortunately, refuses to take Russian gas directly and is forced to take it at such high prices.”
Last week, as Gazprom reduced supplies from its Yamal pipeline and refused to book future supplies, European gas prices increased by 8%, shooting past $1,700 per thousand cubic meters on Monday, 70% higher than September prices. Subsequently, European countries accused Gazprom of leveraging its position as Europe’s primary gas supplier to pressurise governments into signing long-term contracts as well as giving into Russia’s political demands.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is an $11 billion project that can pump an additional 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas annually to Europe, doubling the current volume provided by the Nord Stream 1 and Yamal pipelines. Currently, the pipeline is awaiting approval from Germany and the European Union. German courts suspended the pipeline’s approval last month due to non-compliance.
Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak proclaimed that the project “was built in accordance with all legal requirements” and “will be launched in line with the timings, set for certification.”
The pipeline has been politicised and become a contentious issue between Germany, the United States (US), Ukraine, and Russia. The US is concerned that the pipeline increases Europe’s gas dependence on Russia, making Moscow a more powerful player in the region. On the other hand, Ukraine believes Russia can use the pipeline as a geopolitical weapon to pressurise the West, particularly with regards to the Russian troop build-up along the Ukrainian border. Germany, meanwhile, reached an understanding with the US earlier this month to shut down the pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine.