The Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream-2 is an exclusively economic project and will help Moscow get rid of transit routes through unfriendly countries, said Bloomberg analyst Julian Lee, according to InoSMI.
“The Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea has been condemned by the United States and a number of European countries as a Russian conspiracy to trap European buyers. This is not true. This is the last link in a 30-year project to withdraw Russian oil and gas exports from transit routes through neighboring former Soviet republics”, the expert writes.
Lee recalled that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Moscow faced the fact that pipelines with Russian gas going to the international market pass through countries that have gained independence and may not be friendly.
In his opinion, it is for this reason that Russia has launched a number of projects to “reduce the dependence of its hydrocarbon exports on transit through the former Soviet countries.” For example, oil supplies through Ukrainian terminals in Odessa and nearby Yuzhny dried up by the end of 2010.
“New large export pipelines were built to connect Russia directly with the main consumers – first Turkey and then Germany. The Blue Stream pipeline under the Black Sea has reduced Russia’s dependence on transit through Ukraine to deliver gas to Turkey, while Nord Stream has reduced the role of Belarus and Poland in supplying Russian gas to Germany and other buyers in Western Europe”, Lee said.
Nord Stream-2 consists of two pipelines with a total capacity of about 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year, which connect the coast of Russia and Germany through the Baltic Sea. Currently, the pipeline certification process is underway: the German regulator will work out a draft decision, which will be assessed by the European Commission.