Ukrainian state-owned companies, including Naftogaz, spent almost a quarter of a million dollars in six months – lobbying for their interests in the United States. The money was allocated, among other things, to the discrediting of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline.
This is stated in the report of the lobbying company Yorktown Solutions.
About the contract “Naftogaz” with American lobbyists it became known as early as 2017. The Ukrainian company called this measure a response to the “intensification of the lobbying campaign of Gazprom.”
In February 2018, Naftogaz signed another contract with Yorktown Solutions for a total of $ 465,000. The lobbyists’ task was to prepare articles, columns and studies aimed at the construction of the Northern Stream-2. They also had to support the integration of the Ukrainian and European energy markets.
According to the report, Naftogaz and its “daughter” – the Kiev organization of employers of oil and gas industry – have listed Yorktown Solutions for today 169,9 thousand dollars. In addition, the lobbyists also signed a contract with the Ukrainian military state-owned companies Ukrinmash and Spetstekhnoexport. In total, they received $ 215,000 from Ukrainian state companies.
At the same time, according to the data of the US Senate, since 2017, four companies have been lobbying for the interests of the Nord Stream-2 companies: Capitol Counsel, Hawksbill Group, Roberti Global and SMW Partners. In total for this time they received $ 2.1 million.
On July 9, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that the “Nord Stream-2” is purely political. The task of Ukraine in this situation is to prevent monopolization and protect the interests of the European Union.
“Nord Stream-2” is a gas pipeline project between Russia and Germany, which will be laid along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The total capacity of the project is estimated at 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year. The gas pipeline is scheduled to be launched by the end of 2019.
As reported by “Country”, Russia plans to begin laying “Nord Stream-2” even without the permission of Denmark.
“If the Danish government does not approve the laying of the gas pipeline in its territorial waters, we will have to change the route, and the most likely option is laying in international waters north of Denmark,” said Nord Stream II CFO Paul Corcorann.