Ships participating in the completion of the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and the implementation of the Turkish Stream project will not be provided with insurance.

This is stated in the circular of the international group of clubs for mutual insurance of shipowners (IG P&I).

"This letter concerns the US efforts to tighten sanctions on the projects for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream pipelines, as well as persons providing ships and services in connection with any of the mentioned projects," in the document.

First of all, we are talking about two US legislative acts: countering America's adversaries through sanctions (CAATSA) and protecting Europe's energy security (PEESA).

The provisions of both laws may apply to the activities of foreign ship owners, as well as entities of the maritime industry (including insurers), the circular notes.

“In light of the direct threat to insurers posed by CAATSA and PEESA, the Club's insurance coverage will not apply to activities related to the projects for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream pipelines,” the letter explains.

The organization also urges its members to “assess and minimize the risks” of contracts related to these two pipelines, exercising the utmost discretion to avoid being subject to sanctions or law enforcement measures.

At the end of December 2019, US President Donald Trump signed the country's defense budget for the new fiscal year, which included sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 and Turkish Stream pipelines.

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

In the summer, US senators threatened the operator of the port of Mukran in the city of Sassnitz with "serious consequences" if he did not stop working to support the construction of Nord Stream 2.

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Earlier this week, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced his intention to create a coalition against the Nord Stream 2 AG project.

Its participants are likely to be Poland, Ukraine and the Baltic countries - earlier in these states it was repeatedly stated that Nord Stream 2 allegedly threatened the energy security of Europe.

As pointed out in the Bundestag, Washington's announced plans to create a "coalition" testify to a split in the European Union.

We add that the situation around the construction of the gas pipeline has worsened against the background of the incident with Alexei Navalny.

After the German authorities announced that he was allegedly poisoned by a substance from the Novichok group, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas did not rule out a possible suspension of the project.

At the same time, the prime ministers of six German states called for the completion of the gas pipeline, which is 97% complete.

"The German government has so far adhered to the implementation of the project, and we hope that this will remain so," Russian Ambassador to Berlin Sergei Nechaev said in an interview with Berliner Zeitung.

According to him, opposition to the international commercial project Nord Stream 2 AG is connected with economic interests.

“Poland wants to become the energy center of Europe itself and therefore opposes Nord Stream 2.

We, of course, regret the anti-Russian policy that the government in Warsaw adheres to now, ”the diplomat added.

Nord Stream 2 is two strings of a gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year, which pass through the exclusive economic zones and territorial waters of five countries - Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany.

The Turkish Stream runs along the bottom of the Black Sea to the European part of Turkey, its total capacity is 31.5 billion cubic meters per year.

On January 8, the leaders of Russia, Turkey, Serbia and Bulgaria held a ceremony to launch the pipeline in Istanbul.

"A very strange and unpleasant decision"

The first deputy chairman of the State Duma Energy Committee, Igor Ananskikh, in an interview with RT, said about the strong politicization of the international group of shipowners' mutual insurance clubs.

“This is, of course, a strange bias in favor of individual states, which should not be possible in the modern world at all.

We must have purely market relations.

It turns out that the club is part of a political system.

This decision has no real consequences.

Turkish Stream has already been built, Nord Stream 2 is being completed ... It will not bring any consequences for the ships that are completing the construction.

It is a very strange, unnecessary and simply unpleasant decision that removes masks from some international organizations, ”he said.

In turn, the director of the Energy Development Fund Sergei Pikin noted that sanctions for the insurance coverage of participants in the Nord Stream 2 AG project have not yet been introduced.

“Everyone understands that such a decision will be made, therefore, just in case, no one wants to bear risks now and conclude any agreements ... Actually, this is what they say about this, that they are afraid, and their fear is not groundless.

Insurance is not the key point to keep the project going.

I think that it is possible to implement the project without such things, "said the interlocutor of RT.

At the same time, Igor Yushkov, an expert at the Financial University under the Russian government, a leading analyst at the National Energy Security Fund, in a conversation with RT, noted that not all global insurance companies are members of the IG P&I club, so they may disagree with the decision of this organization.

“There are companies that are outside of this club and it is quite possible that they can provide insurance,” he said.