Russia will challenge refusal to exempt Nord Stream-2 from EU gas directive restrictions

The operator of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline filed a complaint against Germany’s decision to refuse to exempt the project from the conditions of the EU Gas Directive III.

The restrictions of the directive, in particular, oblige to create a new operator company for Nord Stream-2. This is due to the fact that, according to EU requirements, gas cannot be transported by the same company that produces and sells it.

Moreover, the operator will be obliged to provide access to the gas pipeline to third parties. In other words, if a certain European company buys gas from a supplier in Central Asia, it will not be able to pump it through Nord Stream-2.

In this regard, the pipeline operator Nord Stream 2 AG has already filed a complaint with the Higher Land Court of Düsseldorf, as reported in Gazprom’s report for the first half of 2020.

“On June 15, 2020 Nord Stream 2 AG filed a complaint with the Supreme State Court of Düsseldorf against the decision of the Federal Grid Agency of Germany of May 15, 2020 to refuse to grant the Nord Stream-2 project an exemption from the key provisions of the EU Third Gas Directive”, –  the document says.