In the dispute over the commissioning of the largely completed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and the future gas transit through Ukraine, the German and American governments have reached an agreement.
According to information from the FAZ, it essentially contains a large monetary payment to Ukraine as well as the assurance that gas coming from Russia will continue to flow westwards through Ukraine beyond 2024.
Details should be announced on Wednesday evening after the governments in Poland and Ukraine were informed - both of which are the biggest opponents of the pipeline project.
Ukraine fears that Russia will stop the transit deliveries and thus avoid high transit fees.
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Andreas Mihm
Business correspondent for Austria, East-Central, Southeastern Europe and Turkey based in Vienna.
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The existing transit contract between the Russian gas company Gazprom and its Ukrainian counterpart Naftogaz will expire in three years for more than 40 billion cubic meters per year and at a guaranteed minimum price.
If it does not come to an extension, according to the information, the federal government threatens with sanctions against Nord Stream 2. Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) made a similar statement on her visit to Washington last week.
The pipeline from Russia to Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is built and operated by Gazprom, but is co-financed by five Western European energy companies from Austria, France, the Netherlands and Germany.
The Bloomberg news agency writes about a green fund for Ukraine that should be endowed with one billion dollars. According to FAZ information, even more money could be made available, especially for the modernization of the energy infrastructure, which at least in parts is considered obsolete and in need of overhaul. The German-American declaration in Washington last week said: "The United States and Germany will work together to ... mobilize investments in Central and Eastern Europe, including in support of the energy transition, energy efficiency and energy security in Ukraine".
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Selenskyj, had previously pointed out the required transit income with the comment: “For us, 'energy security' is not just a word.
We get 2 billion dollars for the transit. ”Ukraine needs the money from the transit of Russian gas to cover government spending, but also for the ecological restructuring of the economy.
Natural gas will remain important for a long time to come
Energy consumers in Germany should benefit from the agreement on Nord Stream 2. That is what the economist Veronika Grimm expects. "Nord Stream 2 could lower gas prices for German consumers," she told the FAZ. This could also prevent the price of electricity from rising because, in addition to the CO2 price, which is likely to rise in the medium term, it depends on the price of natural gas. “If the line corridor through Ukraine remains, then Nord Stream 2 will open up additional options for the German energy supply. It is therefore important to send clear signals here. ”The professor of economics in Erlangen-Nuremberg and member of the Expert Council for the Assessment of Macroeconomic Development supports the thrust of strengthening the backs of the Eastern European countries and thus preventing them fromthat Nord Stream 2 is harming these states. The new pipeline would not be absolutely necessary for the security of supply, but the peak demand in the winter months would be better covered if all natural gas pipelines from Eastern Europe remain open.