US President Donald Trump has signed a draft federal budget for fiscal year 2020. Previously, the document was approved by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
According to one of its provisions, the United States plans to spend $ 1 billion on supporting energy projects in Europe and Eurasia in 2020–2023 in order to rid the region of its alleged dependence on Russian energy resources.
A list of relevant measures under the general title “On Energy Security and Diversification in Europe” was added to the draft budget on December 17. The initiative belongs to a group of senators, which included Republicans Ron Johnson and Marco Rubio, as well as Democrats Zhanna Shahin, Ben Cardin and Chris Murphy.
- Senator Chris Murphy
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“If Europe and neighboring countries were not so dependent on Russian oil and gas, Putin would be much less powerful. Russia may not decide to invade any NATO country, but it is actively pursuing a predatory energy policy in order to obtain political and economic leverage, ”Murphy said in a statement.
States should provide financial assistance to projects to ensure the energy independence of neighboring countries, especially those that "contribute to the achievement of goals in the field of renewable energy," Murphy said.
According to the document, in the period from 2020 to 2023 the United States will spend $ 1 billion on stimulating investments in strategically important energy projects in Europe and Eurasia, which will help in countering Russia's “predatory” energy policy.
In addition, it is proposed to send targeted funding in the amount of $ 31.5 million to the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). The funds should be used to support American companies that are interested in participating in European energy projects.
It is also proposed "to encourage the State Department to increase its political and diplomatic support to the countries concerned." It is about facilitating negotiations on cross-border energy infrastructure and assisting these states in improving their energy markets.
As Chris Murphy said in an interview with ABC News, in general, presidential administration officials supported the bill. Thus, Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale told the Senator during a December hearing that strengthening Europe’s energy independence is a key priority, as the United States does not want the region to become dependent on Russian energy sources.
At the same time, the senator was afraid that the document would be rejected by Donald Trump because of his allegedly insufficiently rigid policy towards Russia. Speaking earlier about the head of state and his entourage, Murphy said that "they are criminally mild towards Russia."
Unfair competition
It should be noted that this is not the only initiative of American politicians directed against Russian-European energy projects. Earlier, the US Congress approved a draft defense budget, which included sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream pipelines. After Trump signed the document, these restrictions took effect immediately.
As the US Treasury Department said, now parties that intentionally sold, leased or provided vessels for laying pipes at a depth of more than 30.4 m for laying these highways, “must make sure that these vessels immediately cease operations.”
This decision was approved, despite the outrage of Berlin. As Deputy Cabinet Spokeswoman Ulrika Demmer said on the eve, the German side rejects the practice of extraterritorial sanctions affecting German and European companies.
“From the point of view of negotiations on gas transit through Ukraine yesterday, such measures by the United States, which are justified primarily by the protection of Ukraine, are all the more incomprehensible,” she said during the briefing.
Meanwhile, the operator of the Nord Stream 2 AG gas pipeline has already announced that work on the project has been temporarily suspended. Earlier, the Swiss company Allseas suspended work in connection with the entry into force of sanctions.
- Deputy Cabinet Spokesperson Ulric Demmer
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Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline project through which Russian natural gas will be delivered to Germany. The capacity of the new gas pipeline will be 55 billion cubic meters. m of gas per year. Together with the already existing Nord Stream, the volume of supplies of natural fuel along this route will amount to 110 billion cubic meters. m per year. Five West European energy companies - Engie, Shell, OMV, Uniper and Wintershall - also participate in the project. The share of financing of each of them is 10%.
Mention of Ukraine by the representative of the German Cabinet is not accidental. Earlier, Washington and Kiev, criticizing the Russian-German gas pipeline project, said that after its launch gas transit through Ukrainian territory would cease and this would lead to serious financial losses for Ukraine. However, the consultations on the extension of transit, which were conducted by Kiev, Moscow and the European Commission over the past months, have been crowned with success. This was announced on December 20.
This information was also confirmed by the Russian Minister of Energy Alexander Novak, who said that Kiev and Moscow had already prepared a draft detailed protocol and expect to agree on the final terms of the future deal in the near future.
Political motive
Experts consider it quite logical that Trump has signed a draft budget that includes provisions on “energy security and diversification in Europe”. This point of view, in particular, is shared by Konstantin Blokhin, an expert at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“However, the amount of $ 1 billion that is planned to be spent on its implementation does not compare with the resources that Europe and Russia have already spent on Nord Stream 2. No American sanctions or American subsidies will convince Europeans to abandon a project that is more than 80% ready. Trying to rip it off is too late. For Europe, it is precisely the launch of Nord Stream 2 that is a matter of energy security, but not a rejection of it at all, ”the expert explained in a commentary to RT.
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According to Blokhin, Washington is trying to increase its share in the European market, and not to ensure the region’s energy independence.
“The adoption of these measures by the American authorities can be called the conduct of a non-competitive struggle. Washington wants to squeeze Russian supplies from the European energy market to take Europe under its full control. However, the irony of the situation is that all these efforts only damage Euro-Atlantic solidarity, ”he stressed.
According to the head of the analytical department of the National Energy Security Fund Alexander Pasechnik, it is still difficult to assess the degree of possible impact of the measures taken on the European energy market.
“The states supply liquefied natural gas to Europe and regard Russia as a competitor. However, today the geography of LNG suppliers is expanding, new producers are appearing, I would not consider American LNG in Europe as some promising hegemon, since they still have someone to compete with in this niche, but importing Russian pipe gas is a basic strategy for Europeans, ”he told RT.
According to the analyst, the planned subsidies of $ 1 billion are a small amount on a market scale, so the adoption of the bill will not significantly affect the situation in this area.
“In general, you should not consider this initiative as an attempt to make a commercially effective intervention. The authors of the bill are not led by economic, but by political motives. US politicians are trying by administrative measures to influence market relations in the energy sector, because for them Russia is a geopolitical rival, the main opponent, ”the expert summed up.