Kiev expects that the last word on the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will remain with the European Commission.

This point of view was voiced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba at the briefing.

“No matter how fast the actions of the German regulator are, the key is still to involve the European Commission in this process, and the ultimate goal is to apply the Third Energy Package to the functioning of Nord Stream 2,” the head of the department said.

According to him, Ukraine is "upset" in connection with the assessment issued by the Ministry of Economy and Energy of the Federal Republic of Germany regarding the gas pipeline.

“We will bring this position to the attention of our German partners and we will ask them and work with them to ensure that decisions on Nord Stream 2 are not taken hastily, quickly, without careful analysis and research,” Kuleba stressed.

Earlier, the German Ministry of Economy announced a conclusion on the trans-Baltic gas pipeline, saying that in its assessment it "comes to the conclusion that the issuance of a license will not pose a threat to the security of gas supply to Germany and the EU."

It was emphasized that the verdict was preceded by consultations with neighboring EU countries, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Austria, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

As explained in the department, this conclusion is part of the certification procedure in accordance with the federal law on the energy industry in Germany.

According to him, the indicated analysis is carried out if the operator of the gas transmission network from a country that is not a member of the European Union undergoes certification.

Now the certification process will be continued by the German regulator, the Federal Network Agency, to which the ministry's report was sent.

They must also assess the independence of the pipeline operator from the supplier, which is spelled out in the norms of the EU Gas Directive.

According to the latter, a gas pipeline operator may be owned by a company that produces and sells gas, but must guarantee its independence - the ITO (independent transmission operator) model.

It was she who was chosen by the operator Nord Stream 2 AG for certification.

The draft decision of the agency itself should be published by January 8, 2022, since the procedure is given four months to complete, and it started on September 8.

In the future, this project will be submitted to the European Commission for consideration.

  • Headquarters of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) in Berlin

  • © Jörg Zägel / Wikimedia Commons

Sadness of Naftogaz

Yuriy Vitrenko, head of the board of NJSC Naftogaz, also expressed his regret over the decision of the Ministry of Energy of the Federal Republic of Germany, taken without consulting Ukraine.

Indeed, earlier the application for participation in certification was submitted by the "Operator of the Ukrainian gas transportation system" and "Naftogaz" itself.

As Vitrenko noted then, the company's participation in the procedure will oblige the German regulator to take into account the position and arguments of the Ukrainian side.

Now, in his opinion, the probable passage of Nord Stream 2 certification allegedly opens up opportunities for Moscow to blackmail the EU.

“We can tell how certification of the Nord Stream 2 operator, under current conditions, that is, without real separation of property from Gazprom, without real access of third parties to export gas pipelines from Russia to the EU, poses a critical threat to the security of gas supplies to Germany and other EU countries ... Now Gazprom is showing this to the whole of Europe, artificially limiting supplies, "Vitrenko wrote on Facebook.

He also said that with the launch of the new project, the EU countries would allegedly become critically dependent on supplies through this gas pipeline, since there is a risk that Moscow will decide to stop transit through Ukraine.

At the same time, Vitrenko stressed that Nord Stream 2 does not have storage facilities, unlike the Ukrainian GTS.

In turn, the head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs recently announced that Kiev has something to respond to Moscow with if the transit is interrupted.

“In case the Kremlin decides to do this and destroy the remnants of its reputation as an energy supplier to Europe, we have a number of asymmetric retaliatory steps,” Dmitry Kuleba wrote on Twitter.

  • Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba

  • AP

  • © Francisco Seco

Germany is not so pessimistic in assessing the effect of the gas pipeline launch.

Moreover, the representative of the Ministry of Economy and Energy of Germany, Beate Baron, noted that Nord Stream 2 will create additional opportunities for the European Union.

“From the point of view of security of supply for the EU and member countries, including Germany, Nord Stream 2 represents new, additional capacity for natural gas imports.

As a new pipeline, Nord Stream 2 creates more opportunities for transportation, for example, at times of high demand or in the event that, for example, other pipelines are being repaired, ”TASS said.

Reliable partner

In addition to Baron, the reliability of Russia as a gas supplier was noted in the European Commission.

In particular, EC representative Tim McPhee emphasized in early October that Moscow fully complies with all long-term supply contracts.

A similar statement was made in the middle of the month by the deputy head of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans.

“Russia is fulfilling its gas supply contracts, we have no reason to believe that it is putting pressure on the gas market and manipulating it.

But the global demand for gas is enormous.

There are problems in China, and Russia is trying to deliver the maximum amount of gas, including there.

But there is no reason to believe that Russia is manipulating the gas market, ”TASS quoted him as saying on the air of the Bulgarian television channel bTV.

  • EU flags on the background of the building of the European Commission

  • Reuters

  • © Yves Herman

Russian President Vladimir Putin previously spoke of Moscow's readiness to increase gas supplies to Europe, if requested.

“If we are asked to increase (gas supplies. -

RT

) more, we are ready to increase more.

We increase as much as our partners ask us.

There is not a single refusal.

Not a single one, ”the head of the Russian Federation emphasized, speaking at the plenary session of the Russian Energy Week on October 13.

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov also noted that "the earliest possible commissioning of Nord Stream 2 will significantly balance the price parameters for natural gas in Europe, including on the spot market."

Not in the interests of the European Union

In this regard, experts note that delays in the certification procedure for Nord Stream 2 are not in the interests of the European Union.

“In the context of high gas prices, delaying certification will only exacerbate the situation.

The economies of the EU countries are now suffering colossal damage, and Europe needs to solve the problem of the high cost of energy resources, and this can be done only with the help of Russia.

Therefore, I do not think that Ukraine's desires and considerations will be heard, "said Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in an interview with RT.

Aleksey Grivach, Deputy Director General for Gas Issues at the National Energy Security Fund, shares his opinion.

According to him, even if the EC still goes on delaying the certification process, it will not be done because of Ukraine.

"The EC can slow down the process or block it with its actions, but this will be done not because Ukraine needs it so much, but because the Europeans want to have one more leverage for bargaining with Russia or the American lobby has entered the business," Grivach said in a commentary on RT ...

He also noted that Ukraine is not in a position to threaten Russia, which proceeds in its actions from contractual obligations, commercial interests and market demands, for example, to reduce emissions and improve the reliability of supplies.

“It would be in the interests of Kiev to try to establish a constructive dialogue to continue cooperation in the field of transit in the future, and not to put forward ultimatums,” the analyst said.

  • GTS of Ukraine

  • Reuters

  • © Gleb Garanich

In this regard, Konstantin Blokhin called Dmitry Kuleba's statement about possible asymmetric steps towards Russia "hysteria" and an attempt to put pressure on Europe and the United States.

“I don't think there will be much damage to us.

In addition, pumping gas through Ukraine is an additional profit.

It is beneficial for us, ”the expert said.

However, he is confident that the launch of the new gas pipeline will improve the situation and help balance prices in Europe.

In addition, Germany is more interested in Nord Stream 2, despite some criticisms of a number of German politicians.

“For the German elite, there is a belief in the extreme importance of Nord Stream 2.

In addition, huge sums of private companies, including German ones, were invested in its construction.

Therefore, abandoning this project will cause more damage to the German economy than all the US sanctions combined.

Completing the pipeline and not using it when gas prices are crazy is just a crime against common sense, "Blokhin summed up.