The United States has imposed new sanctions against the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline under construction, RIA Novosti reports. They touched upon the Fortuna pipelayer, its owner – KBT-Rus – and the Rustanker company. According to TASS, the ship “Maxim Gorky” is also subject to sanctions.
Earlier on Tuesday, January 19, it became known that another company refused to participate in the project. We are talking about the German Bilfinger SE, the reason for this decision was fears due to US sanctions. In November last year, the Norwegian certification company Det Norske Veritas – Germanischer Lloyd (DNV GL) abandoned the project, earlier the Danish engineering company Ramboll left it.
Against the background of tougher sanctions pressure, Gazprom for the first time started talking about the possible failure of Nord Stream 2. The company suggested that the project could be suspended or canceled due to political pressure, but still hopes to complete it “as soon as reasonably possible.”
Construction stopped in December 2019 due to US sanctions. In mid-January 2021, Denmark allowed the Fortuna barge to complete Nord Stream 2, but neither she nor the Akademik Chersky pipelayer have yet begun work. After Washington announced new sanctions, Germany warned the United States about retaliatory measures: the Bundestag did not rule out the introduction of penalties on the import of American gas.