Ukraine will “very, very loudly” ask the United States to impose sanctions against the operator of Nord Stream 2 (SP-2), Nord Stream AG, if Germany allows the operation of the gas pipeline contrary to the court decision, according to which the pipeline is not removed from the operation of the updated Gas directives of the EU, said the head of the company “Naftogaz of Ukraine” Yuriy Vitrenko in an interview with the Ukrainian TV channel “24”.
“If we imagine that the German regulator will turn a blind eye to the violation of European legislation, then we intend to insist … very, very strongly that the Americans then impose sanctions,” Vitrenko said about sanctions against the pipeline operator.
The Düsseldorf court dismissed the complaint of Nord Stream AG and did not allow the withdrawal of SP-2 from the renewed EU Gas Directive.
The essence of the amendments made to the directive in early 2020 is to extend the norms of the Third Energy Package to pipelines passing in the maritime economic zone of the EU countries.
The norms oblige the operator to reserve up to 50% of the pipeline’s capacity for pumping fuel from other suppliers, Russian media informed.
The basic requirement of the Third Energy Package is the division of energy companies into separate structures that are engaged in the extraction, production, supply, and trade of energy resources (without the right of one company to simultaneously engage in all the listed activities). The energy package provides for the admission of independent operators to pipelines, power lines, and so on.
