ENGIE, as one of the European partners of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, has already invested half of its financial obligations in the pipeline and is ready to provide the rest in the coming months as the construction company needs it, ENGIE Executive Vice President Pierre Chareyre told Vestnik Kavkaza.
“We have already provided a little less than $550 million. It’s about half of our commitment, so there is more to come. There is a schedule of drawdown as the project company needs it to finance its investments. So it [the second half] will come in the next months,” the vice president said on the sidelines of the Gastech conference in Barcelona.
Chareyre said that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline will be completed as initially planned despite potential sanctions by the United States, as the current regulation does not prohibit support for the project by European companies.
“The guidance which has been given by the U.S. administration on the sanctions does not prevent us from supporting Nord Stream 2, but if the rules change, we will assess our position. For the time being there is no change, as far as I know. Most of the permits have been received and I am convinced that whatever happens, the pipe will be completed,” ENGIE’s executive VP when asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge not to punish EU companies for participating in the Nord Stream 2.
On Wednesday, Trump said at a joint press conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda that the U.S. is not going to impose sanctions on Western companies that participate in this project.
“We just think that unfortunately for the people of Germany, this country pays billions and billions of dollars a year for energy supplies from Russia,” Trump said. At a joint press briefing, Trump and Duda stressed that both countries will continue to coordinate efforts to “confront energy projects that threaten our common security, such as Nord Stream 2”.
