The construction of the North Stream 2 gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, after a one-year break, will resume at the beginning of December.
This means that the project, which has become a focal point in heated relations between the West and Moscow, could be finished in just a few weeks, despite the announcement of a new round of US sanctions, world media write.
'Academic Čerski' on the move
Russian company Nord Stream 2 announced last weekend that it plans to continue pipe-laying work on a section of the gas pipeline in Germany's exclusive economic zone, Reuters reported.
The 1.230 km pipeline under the Baltic Sea - which Moscow hopes will increase gas supplies to Europe by bypassing Ukraine, which Washington says threatens Europe's energy security - is almost complete, but the final section of around 120 km has yet to be laid.
Work on the project, which has become a flashpoint in relations between Russia and the West, was halted last December when the Swiss-Dutch pipe-laying company Allseas suspended work after US sanctions targeted companies whose ships lay pipes.
In a statement from Saturday, November 28, the North Stream 2 company stated that it will subsequently determine the vessel that will continue laying the pipes, Reuters emphasizes, adding that it did not specify when the work would be completed.
Reuters also reported that the Russian ship Akademik Chersky, which is expected to be used to lay the pipe in Danish waters, left the German port of Mukran, which served as the hub of the project and where it had been based for a month, heading to the Russian port of Kaliningrad.
Nord Stream 2, worth 11 billion dollars (9,5 billion euros), is managed by Russia's Gazprom, and half of the funds were provided by five European companies: OMV, Wintershall, Uniper, Shell and Engie.
American sanctions, Russian solutions
While US President Donald Trump continues to look for ways to stop construction of the controversial pipeline, industry executives and analysts believe that Russia is likely to overcome a new round of US sanctions against Nord Stream 2 that the US Congress is expected to approve in the next three weeks, according to Bloomberg.
In the US, both Democrats and Republicans are pushing for legislation to tighten sanctions against Nord Stream 2.
Also, Bloomberg points out, newly elected President Joseph Biden has joined Trump in opposing the construction of a pipeline that will ensure the flow of Russian natural gas to Germany, leaving little hope that the issue will be dismissed with his inauguration in January.
German companies and Chancellor Angela Merkel are concerned about US interference, but Western firms backing the project have vowed to move forward.
Also, there are indications that the continuation of the project will be supported by the German government, while ministers in Berlin are negotiating with EU countries a joint response to American sanctions.
Bloomberg points out that the Nord Stream 2 company has confirmed that the continuation of construction work on the pipeline will begin on December 5.
To move forward, Russia's Gazprom must solve three challenges: find a ship to lay the pipes, get insurance for the project and get confirmation that the work being done complies with European Union standards.
Katja Jafimav, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, believes that "it is still possible for Nord Stream 2 to be built by the summer of 2021 and to receive all the necessary certificates for gas flow next winter," adding that the new sanctions may extend that timeframe. , but that Gazprom can find solutions for each of the set obstacles.
The next round of US sanctions, according to Bloomberg, is aimed at preventing companies accessing the US financial system from issuing security clearances for Nord Stream 2.
This would affect the primary insurance company from Zurich (Zurich Insurance Group), namely the Norwegian company Det Norske Veritas, which was supposed to provide the pipeline safety certification.
If US sanctions are extended to that part of the business, Gazprom could hire the Russian National Reinsurance Company (RNRC) and similar government bodies.
Ukrainians on the way to success
Members of the US Congress agreed this month on measures to thwart the Akademik Chersky - the only Russian-owned ship capable of completing the pipeline under the Baltic - and bury Nord Stream 2, the Wall Street Journal reported, noting that the new sanctions would mean a victory for the Ukrainians. who lobbied against the pipeline in Washington.
For four years, the Ukrainians tried to persuade the Trump administration and the leaders of the Congress to stop the project because, the newspaper adds, the new pipeline, laid next to the original Nord Stream built ten years ago, would allow Russia to bypass the gas pipeline transit network in Ukraine, which brought Kyiv an annual income of three billion dollars.
On the other hand, the Wall Street Journal emphasizes, Berlin believes that the gas pipeline will improve European energy security.
Still, lobbying and support from Republican Senator Ted Cruz and other Russia skeptics in Congress produced hard-won sanctions that halted work on Nord Stream 2 a year ago, about 120 km short of completion.
According to the newspaper, lobbyists first pointed to the connection between Nord Stream 2 and Moscow's ability to escalate the conflict in Ukraine.
Ukrainians now feel they are on the verge of success, as Congress could approve a defense spending bill by the end of the month that will include sanctions, this time targeting companies that insure, test, inspect and certify the pipeline.
This means, the Wall Street Journal indicates, that the new sanctions could come into force by the end of the year.
The new sanctions will be "the last nail in the coffin of this project" and will make it impossible to continue construction of the pipeline, said Vadim Glamazdin, the government official for relations with the Ukrainian state-owned firm Naftogaz.
The paper also quotes Senator Cruz as saying that "a pipeline that is 95 percent complete is a pipeline that is not completed" and that it is "right now just a piece of metal at the bottom of the ocean."
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