Gazprom plans to launch Nord Stream 2 in the fall

The Russian state-owned company Gazprom plans to transport 5.6 billion cubic meters of gas to Germany via the almost completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline this year. The company announced that 33.7 billion cubic meters of gas had been pumped into Germany via the existing Nord Stream pipeline in the first seven months of the current year. The 99 percent completed Nord Stream 2, together with the Nord Stream, which is already in operation, will have a transport capacity of 110 billion cubic meters per year. According to earlier information from the operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, the laying work should be completed by the end of August. However, there is not yet an exact date when the almost completed pipeline will go into operation. It is supposed to bring Russian gas to Germany. The Russian agency Interfax reported that the gas price had fallen after Gazprom's announcement. Nord Stream 2 runs from Vyborg in Russia through the Baltic Sea to Lubmin near Greifswald in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. On Friday, Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin also want to talk about the internationally controversial project. The US and European states are accusing the German government of accepting dependence on Russian gas supplies. In addition, Ukraine's position vis-à-vis Russia will be weakened. So far, Ukraine has been the most important transit country for gas deliveries to Europe. Before Merkel's trip to Moscow, government spokesman Steffen Seibert emphasized that the Chancellor was preparing for further criticism from Kiev on the issue of Nord Stream 2. "We take the concerns of the Ukrainian side very seriously," emphasized Seibert. Germany will continue to advocate that Ukraine remain a transit country for Russian gas. The German government warned Moscow several times not to use the pipeline as a means of pressure against Ukraine. Under the former US President Donald Trump, the United States tried to stop the pipeline with massive threats of sanctions. To settle the dispute, it was recently agreed between Berlin and the new US administration under President Joe Biden that the gas transit through Ukraine should be extended by up to ten years.