Europe Energy Firms to Finance Up To €4.75 Billion for Gazprom Nord Stream 2 Gas Pipeline
April 24 2017 - 10:36AM
Dow Jones News
By Emre Peker
BRUSSELS--European energy firms pledged Monday to pay for half
the cost of a natural-gas link from Russia to Germany, lending
significant support to a controversial pipeline that is fueling
tensions within the European Union.
A consortium of five companies--Engie, OMV, Royal Dutch Shell
PLC, Uniper and Wintershall Holding GmBH--said they would provide
up to €4.75 billion ($5.1 billion) in long-term financing to Nord
Stream 2 AG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Russia's state-owned
Gazprom. Each European firm would fund up to €950 million.
The pipeline, which would double the capacity of the existing
Nord Stream link by adding another 55 billion cubic meters of
annual volume, faces stiff resistance from Central and Eastern
European members of the EU.
Previously, Polish competition authorities blocked the five
European companies from becoming Nord Stream 2 shareholders.
"The financial commitment by the European companies underscores
the Nord Stream 2 project's strategic importance for the European
gas market," Gazprom and its European backers in Nord Stream 2 said
in a joint statement. The pipeline, which is scheduled to be
completed by the end of 2019, will contribute to competitiveness
and long-term energy security in the EU, they said.
Gazprom's planned expansion would enable Russia to cut back on
eastern routes through Ukraine and Belarus, critics say. That would
threaten the EU's energy security, while also undermining a key
diplomatic objective for Brussels: supporting Kiev amid its
conflict with Moscow.
Write to Emre Peker at emre.peker@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 24, 2017 10:21 ET (14:21 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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