No country can hamper construction of Nord Stream 2

Neither Denmark, nor the United States nor any other country can hamper the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Russian Permanent Representative to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov said in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

"They [the Danish] could suspend construction work for several weeks or months if the new government, which they consider to be left-wing, doesn’t change its position. However, they won’t be able to hamper the pipeline’s construction," Chizhov said. "The Americans are also unable to do it. So I look into the future of Nord Stream 2 with optimism," he added.

However, the Russian envoy emphasized the need to wait until a new cabinet was formed in Denmark.

When commenting on the United States’ threats to impose sanctions on Russia over the construction of the gas pipeline, Chizov pointed out that Washington threatened many other countries and alliances with sanctions. "Russia is not alone here. There are also the European Union, China, Mexico and all others," he said.

Nord Stream 2 project
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is scheduled to be put into operation in late 2019. Each of the pipeline’s two stretches will have a capacity of 27.5 bln cubic meters. The pipeline, set to run from the Russian coast along the Baltic Sea bed to the German shore, is expected to connect the Russian resource base with European customers. The total project cost of the Nord Stream 2 is estimated at 9.5 bln euro.

The gas pipeline won’t cross transit countries such as Ukraine, Belarus and Poland, running through the exclusive economic zones and territorial waters of Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. Denmark remains the only country yet to approve the construction of Nord Stream 2.