Two Ukrainian lobbyists are involved in the development of US sanctions against the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, writes The Wall Street Journal on November 29.
We are talking about Naftogaz employee Vadim Glamazdin, who is responsible for interaction with the authorities in the company, as well as Oleksandr Kharchenko, whom the author of the article associates with the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
According to the newspaper, they have been “working behind the scenes in Washington” for at least four years in order to prevent the implementation of the gas pipeline. It is noted that these Ukrainians interacted with Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Democrat Jinn Sheikhin.
American lobbyist Daniel Vadich helped them in this. According to the newspaper, he was Cruise’s assistant, and was also involved in the development of anti-Russian sanctions, because of which the American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil refused to cooperate with Rosneft.
“We applied the same tactics to Nord Stream 2,” WSJ quotes Vadic.
The newspaper writes that Glamazdin and Kharchenko were looking for a vulnerable spot in the project. So, in 2018, they found out that Russia does not have vessels for laying pipes of the required diameter, so they decided to focus their efforts on limiting the work of just such pipelayers. As a result, the newspaper states, the Swiss company Allseas suspended work due to the threat of US sanctions.
On November 28, it became known that Nord Stream 2 AG, the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline construction project, plans to resume laying the pipeline in December 2020.
In December last year, the United States first imposed restrictions on companies involved in the implementation of Nord Stream 2. Because of this, the project was suspended.
Washington continues to put pressure on European companies involved in the construction of the pipeline. For example, US senators demanded that the operator of the port of Mukran stop supporting the project, threatening to “financial destruction”, on October 20, the States announced new sanctions
