Nord Stream 2 AG Receives All Permits From Germany for Construction of Pipeline

Nord Stream 2 AG, the operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, has received all the requisite permits from Germany for the construction of the pipeline, the company’s press service said Tuesday.

“Nord Stream 2 AG today received the permit for the construction and operation of the pipeline system in the German EEZ [Exclusive Economic Zone]. The BSH [Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany] issued the permit for this approximately 30-kilometer-long route section, in accordance with the Federal Mining Act,” the press release read.

The company stressed that now all necessary permits have been obtained as in January,Germany's Stralsund Mining Authority issued permission for the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in Germany's territorial waters, taking into account the potential environmental impact of the construction. Permissions from the national regulators of Russia, Finland, Sweden and Denmark, through which territories the pipe will go, are due to be obtained soon, according to the operator.

Responding to the decision later in the day, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he hoped that the Nord Stream 2 pipeline between Russia and Germany would be reconsidered, restricted or even canceled.

"I increasingly hope that even if the pipeline is built, there will be so many limitations in place that it will be much less self-sustaining and much more secure. But above all, I constantly hope that it will not be built," Morawiecki said on national television.

The prime minister added that he hoped many countries, including Germany’s allies, would reconsider whether the construction of the pipeline threatened European security.

In February, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she considered Nord Stream 2 to be an economic project which does not pose a threat to EU energy security.

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Several countries, including Ukraine and Poland, have spoken against Nord Stream 2, claiming that the project will increase Europe’s dependence on imported Russian gas. Media reports appeared that Poland had a plan to launch its own alternative gas pipeline project called Baltic Pipe, which, in contrast to the Moscow-initiated Nord Stream 2, will lead to Denmark instead of Russia.

The Nord Stream 2 is a joint venture between Russia’s Gazprom, France's Engie, Austria’s OMV AG, the Anglo-Dutch company Royal Dutch Shell, and Uniper and Wintershall, both German. The project involves the construction of two strings of a gas pipeline with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year, running from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to Germany. The total cost is estimated at 9.5 billion euros.