“The European Commission adopted the extension of the Gas Directive to offshore pipelines and demanded pretty quickly to do all this from national regulators. Germany resisted for a long time and set a date: if Nord Stream 2 is completed before May 23, it will not fall under this regulation, ”said Yushkov.
He stressed that Germany was counting on the fact that Nord Stream 2 would be completed before this date, but this could not be done due to the imposition of sanctions against the pipeline at the end of 2019.
“Germany simply couldn’t push this date again ... It was politically difficult for her to do this,” the expert explained.
According to him, Nord Stream 2 AG will continue to try to get this exception.
“I think he (operator. - RT ) will appeal to the courts and challenge this decision. Even if he fails to get the right to be excluded from the Third Energy Package, he will try to fit into the rules of the game, ”the analyst concluded.
Earlier, the German regulator rejected the application of Nord Stream 2 AG, the operator of the Nord Stream 2 project, to release the pipeline project from the requirements of the EU Gas Directive.
In the United States, at the end of 2019, they announced the introduction of sanctions against the gas pipeline project, after which the Swiss company Allseas suspended work on it.
In February, US Secretary of Energy Dan Bruyett announced that Moscow would not be able to circumvent US sanctions and independently complete the construction of Nord Stream 2 due to a lack of necessary technologies.
The Russian Ministry of Energy assured that the forecasts for the completion date of the project are preserved, it will be completed in late 2020 - early 2021.