The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is 99% complete, the project operator Nord Stream 2 AG said.

“The pipe-laying vessel Akademik Chersky has fully completed the originally planned scope of work for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

Thus, to date, the gas pipeline is 99% complete.

The pipe-laying barge Fortuna continues to work at the final section of the project, ”the operator said in a statement to RIA Novosti.

Recall that at the beginning of June, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the completion of the pipe laying of the first string of the gas pipeline during the plenary session of the St.

“I am glad to announce that today, two and a half hours ago, the pipe laying of the first string of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline was successfully completed, and work on the second string continues.

The entire linear work, including the offshore section, has been completed, ”said the Russian leader.

In addition, the readiness of the Russian linear part of the gas route to the Slavyanskaya compressor station was ensured, the president specified.

He recalled that this station is the starting point of the new gas pipeline.

“Gas has been supplied to Slavyanskaya, so Gazprom is ready to fill Nord Stream 2 with gas.

This route will directly connect the gas transmission systems of Russia and Germany, ”noted Vladimir Putin.

The head of state stressed that Nord Stream 2 will serve Europe's energy security and contribute to a reliable supply of European consumers.

The project, the president specified, is economically highly efficient and fully complies with the strictest environmental standards and technical requirements.

As Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Igor Ananskikh told RT, small technical work remained to complete the construction, but there is no doubt that this year gas will be delivered to consumers in Europe along the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

“This is a big deal for Europe, because, of course, gas along the bottom of the Baltic Sea is much cheaper than through the gas system of Ukraine and Poland, which is undoubtedly beneficial for European consumers.

Everyone was waiting for this moment, so that it would be possible to buy gas cheaper without intermediaries in the person of Eastern European countries, which, unfortunately, for the last year, have only done that increased the cost of rent for pumping gas through their territory, ”said the deputy.

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In turn, the director of the Energy Development Fund, Sergei Pikin, in an interview with RT, stressed that unfriendly countries have no way of influencing the completion of the construction of the gas pipeline. 

“There are only a couple of weeks left until the completion, then the process of certification and launch of the industrial one is going on.

The first string was ready a month ago, so I think that in November the contract gas will go through the pipeline, ”the expert admitted.

Let us remind you that Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline under construction that runs from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea. The pipeline passes through the exclusive economic zones and territorial waters of five countries - Germany, Denmark, Russia, Finland and Sweden. Several European countries are opposed to its construction, claiming that the gas pipeline allegedly threatens the energy security of Europe, as well as the United States, which is promoting its liquefied natural gas to the EU. Russia has repeatedly stated that Nord Stream 2 is an exclusively commercial project, in which Europe is primarily interested.

Washington has repeatedly imposed sanctions on the ships and companies involved in the construction.

In particular, in December 2019, then-US President Donald Trump signed the country's defense budget, which provided for restrictions against the gas pipeline.

In this regard, the Swiss company Allseas, which was laying the gas pipeline, curtailed the work, stating that it did not plan to return to the construction of this pipeline.

In December 2020, the US Congress agreed to expand sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream projects.

Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov then called the actions of the American side a manifestation of unfair competition and added that such steps "fundamentally contradict the principles of international trade and international law."

In May 2021, the United States included in the sanctions list two Russian companies and a fund associated with the construction of the gas pipeline, as well as 13 vessels, including the Akademik Chersky pipelayer.

Later, US President Joe Biden said that sanctions against Nord Stream 2 were unproductive and would not stop the project, since the gas pipeline was almost completed.

Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University under the Russian government, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund, noted that Gazprom is overcoming all the obstacles and sanctions restrictions that have arisen on the way of the pipeline's construction. 

“Akademik Chersky”, he had a very small section in the German water area, in shallow water, he had to lay 2.7 km of pipe, and he did it, the main word is now behind the pipe-laying barge “Fortuna”, it is going at a pretty good pace.

The final date of pipe-laying work depends only on the weather, ”said the expert.

The analyst called the fact that Russia, despite the sanctions, was able to complete the construction of the gas pipeline on its own as an "important milestone".

“No one has any doubts that it will be completed and put into operation. And even the Americans admitted that the sanctions hadn't helped. This is also such an eloquent precedent, the Americans are imposing some kind of sanctions, and the country not only does not abandon its actions, but also completes the project, and thus devalues ​​the American sanctions regime. It is a very important moment when we show that US sanctions are not omnipotent, ”the expert emphasized.