Berlin (AFP)
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline intended to bring Russian natural gas to Germany and which is the subject of tensions between Western capitals will be completed this summer, the CEO of Nord Stream 2 AG told a German newspaper on Sunday.
"We expect its construction to be completed by the end of August," Matthias Warnig, the chairman of the Swiss-based company, told the financial daily Handelsblatt.
Despite the threat of US sanctions hanging over the project, "we will have a pipeline that will meet certification requirements and international industry standards," he continued, adding that he hoped to see it operational. " before the end of this year ".
This gas pipeline connects Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea without passing through Ukraine, depriving this country of revenue collected on transit but also of a means of pressure on Moscow.
Supported by Berlin, this project is highly criticized in Washington and in Eastern Europe.
US President Joe Biden, initially very hostile to the project like his predecessors, waived sanctions at the end of May, preferring to strengthen cooperation with Germany.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday in Berlin, before traveling to Washington to meet Joe Biden.
According to Mr. Warnig, the risk remains "great" that a part of the American Congress continues to demand sanctions against Nord Stream 2, in particular against potential customers of the delivered gas.
"I no longer exclude anything. Sanctioning clients, however, would be to bring economic warfare into a new dimension," he said.
© 2021 AFP