The head of the Austrian oil and gas corporation OMV, Rainer Seele, believes that a “political response” should be given to the threat of a possible imposition of sanctions by the US against the companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung wrote about this on Wednesday, July 29.
“As a European company, we expect that measures will be taken at the political level to ensure that Europe does not lose its attractiveness as a place for investment,” he said.
The question, according to Seele, is only how much Europe is ready to defend its sovereignty and independence – especially in matters of energy supplies.
On July 26, the United States stepped up pressure on European companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. On July 24, the US Senate approved its version of the Pentagon’s budget for the new fiscal year, which begins October 1. The US Department of Defense will receive about $ 740.5 billion, including sanctions against Nord Stream 2.
The US first imposed sanctions on the pipeline last December. Because of this, the construction of Nord Stream 2 was suspended.
The Nord Stream 2 project involves the construction of a gas pipeline with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters. m per year from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to Germany for direct gas supplies to Europe. The EU countries mainly support the project and participate in its implementation. The United States, the Baltic states, Ukraine and Poland are opposed.
Gazprom hopes to launch the pipeline at the end of this or early 2021.