nordstream2

Tuesday, August 17

Guaranteeing high EU gas prices this fall, Russia’s Gazprom bought only 4% of additional pipeline capacity offered at auction by Ukraine yesterday , reports UBR.ua. The news pushed Rotterdam hub gas prices to a new peak: $585/1,000 cubic meters. Ukraine’s Transmission System Operator had offered to pump an additional 15 million cubic meters in S...

Seeking US backing to block Nord Stream 2, a major Ukrainian energy association has signed a 1-year, $1.2 million contract with US law firm Arent Fox for legal and lobbying help in Washington. The US Department of Justice reports that the Ukrainian Federation of Employers of the Oil and Gas Industry signed the contract last month. German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets with President Putin i...

Tuesday, August 3

“Germany Sees No Commitment to Shut Off Russian Gas in Biden Deal,” headlines a Bloomberg story reported in Berlin and based on background interviews with German officials. “Germany has little intention of shutting off Nord Stream 2 if Vladimir Putin tries to use the ...

The chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee joined counterparts from European parliaments, opposing the US-Germany agreement to allow completion of the Nord Stream 2 undersea gas pipeline. “We consider Nord Stream 2 a geopolitical project geared towards expanding Russia’s influence on Europe by dominating the energy market,...

With Nord Stream 2 99% complete, Ukraine’s goal is to make sure that gas never flows through it, Yuriy Vitrenko, chairman of Naftogaz, told RFE/RL on Saturday. “The battle is lost, but the war isn’t,” he vowed. “And our ‘war’ against Nord Stream 2 continues.” Gazprom owns the pipeline and t...

“US-German gas deal is a disservice to Ukraine,” headlines an editorial in London’s Financial Times. “Russian threat to Europe’s security cannot be ‘parked’ to focus on China.” Editors at the business newspaper write: “Nord Stream has always been at...

Monday, August 2

The US House of Representatives approved an appropriations bill last week that mandates sanctions against Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline , Ukraine’s Embassy in Washington posts on Facebook. The bill allocates $481.5 million in aid to Ukraine, a 6% increase over last year. The Senate is seen as hostile to the Russia-Germany Baltic Sea g...

Thursday, July 29

All 12 Republican Senators on the Senate Banking Committee are threatening to block two Treasury nominees unless the Biden administration reverses its stance on the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany and imposes new sanctions on the project, Bloomberg reports from Washington. “We urge you to reverse course on Nord Stream II and join us in Congress’ long-standing def...

Friday, July 23

Yesterday, Russia went on a charm offensive, talking up the new US-Germany accord that gives a flashing green light to Nord Stream 2. “Gazprom has always stressed its readiness to continue gas transit through Ukraine, including after 2024, based on economic feasibility,” Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said, TASS reported. “The matter of ...

Polish and Ukrainian officials focused on the security implications of the pipeline. “This decision has created political, military and energy threats for Ukraine and Central Europe, while increasing Russia’s potential to destabilize the security situation in Europe, perpetuatin...

In Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters that if Russia tried to use the pipeline as a weapon, “we are not without any tools to do something. ” However, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that Germany negotiators blocked “a U.S. request for a so-called kill-switch clause, enabling Berlin to suspend gas flows in the event of Russian ...

Annalena Baerbock, the Green Party candidate to succeed Merkel in Germany’s September 27 national election, told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper that the agreement is “not a solution, especially not for security in Ukraine.”

The Wall Street Journal editorializes: “The deal with Germany is embarrassing in its weakness. In a joint U.S.-German statement on Wednesday, Berlin pledges to impose sanctions in the future ‘should Russia attempt to use energy as a weapon or commit further aggressive acts against Ukraine.’ We ...

Calling the Russia-Germany line, “the Molotov-Ribbentrop gas pipeline,” Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, international business editor of London’s Daily Telegraph, mocks Washington’s assertion that the US-Germany deal will not allow the Krem...

Timothy Ash, the London-based strategist for Bluebay Asset Management Company, asks: “Really does anyone believe that Germany will immediately suspend all gas delivery from Nord Stream 2 if Russia cuts flows thru Ukraine?”

Thursday, July 22

Germany and the US unveiled their compromise on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline yesterday, eliciting a wave of criticism from German Greens and US Republicans. Critics complained of a lack of language specifying when and how Germany would take the costly move of shutting down the pipeline t...

Yesterday Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel telephoned Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the compromise, an agreement designed to allow the €9.5 billion pipeline to open this fall. With Angela Merkel’s plan to step down after the September 27 Bundestag elections, the Greens, her party’s main opponents, were scathing. “At a time when Putin is putting massive rhetorical and ...

In Washington, Representative Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that he had no doubt Russia “will use the Nord Stream 2 pipeline as a weapon of coercion against Ukraine and transatlantic energy security as soon as it is operational. Promises to invest in future Ukrainian energy projects and ambiguous threats of consequences won’t change th...

U.S. Senator Jim Risch, a ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and sanctions legislation co-author, said this week’s agreement “was negotiated without the participation and consent of key allies like Ukraine and Poland, and does not guarantee a single concrete consequence if Russia uses Nord Stream 2 as the geopolitical weapon it is.” In response, the Undersecretary of Statem Victoria Nulandm told a Senate Foreign Re...

Although the pipeline is 98% complete, a bipartisan group of Washington lawmakers told Politico that they are considering blocking must-pass appropriations legislation this fall if the Biden administration continues to withhold sanctions o...

Wednesday, July 21

Germany and the US are finalizing an agreement which would allow Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to open this fall – under certain conditions, Bloomberg reports from Washington, citing U.S. officials. Conditions are to include: sanctions if Russia tries to use the pipeline as a weapon against Ukraine; Germany would lobby Russia to extend Gaz...

Tuesday, July 13

Separately, Matthias Warnig, CEO of Nord Stream AG, told German’s Handelsblatt newspaper that the gas pipeline is 98% complete. “We expect the construction work to be completed by the end of August,” he said in comments published on Sunday. Warnig predicted the pipeline will become operational this fall.

Monday, July 12

President Zelenskiy will dine in Berlin tonight with German Chancellor Angela Merkel – a final attempt to argue Ukraine’s case on Nord Stream 2 before she meets on Thursday with President Biden in Washington. A few days later, Zelenskiy will also meet Biden in Washington. He is expect...

In advance of Zelenskiy’s Berlin visit, Germany’s government said Friday that Germany wants Ukraine to retain its role as a transit country for Russian gas to Ukraine. Once Nord Stream 2 is commissioned, as early as this fall, Russia will not need Ukraine’s pipeline system. German Government Spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters Friday: “For us, the issue o...

Once Nord Stream 2 is complete, EU officials should limit its volume, relying on EU competition law that applies to the land extensions of Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2, Prime Minister Shmygal told LRT media. “The fact that the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipe...

Friday, July 2

With EU gas prices at 13-year highs and Russian gas supplies to the EU down by almost a fifth, the head of Ukraine’s pipeline company tells the Financial Times that the EU should fight back against Russia’s ‘blackmail.” Sergiy Makogon, chief executive of Ukraine’s Gas Transmission System Operat...

Monday, June 28

US and Germany are working to draw up a deal to shore up Ukraine’s energy sector to blunt the impact of Nord Stream 2 , Bloomberg reports from Berlin and Washington. Elements could include: building up a hydrogen production industry in Ukraine; requiring Russia to keep minimum gas flows across Ukraine through the 202...

Friday, June 25

“Europe’s Chances of Dodging Winter Gas Crunch Hang on Russia, ” Bloomberg writes in a piece based on industry analyst interviews. “Much is going to depend upon Nord Steam 2,” said Massimo Di-Odoardo, vice president of global gas at Wood Mackenzie Ltd, tells Bloo...

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the Nordstream 2 gas pipeline Wednesday as a Russian geopolitical project that undermines the security of Ukraine, adding the United States wants to ensure Russia does not use energy as a coercive tool against any European state, Reuters reports from Berlin. Speaking at a joint press conference with his German cou...

Sanctions can stop certification of Nord Stream 2 and sanctions can prevent companies from buying the gas , Yuriy Vitrenko, Naftogaz CEO, tells Interfax-Ukraine in an interview. “The United States can ensure that certification does not take place,” he said. “For this gas pipeline to work, much more is nee...

Wednesday, June 16

Justice Minister Denys Malyuska promised yesterday to challenge the decision in court . Prime Minister Shmyhal set a 10-day deadline to resolve the impasse. The challenge to Vitrenko comes as Naftogaz closely watches today’s Biden-Putin meeting in Geneva for news on the Nord Stream 2 p...

Tuesday, June 15

In Geneva tomorrow, President Biden is to meet with President Putin and speak about Nord Stream 2 , the Russia-German gas pipeline that Russia built to bypass Ukraine. Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, told Germany’s Welt newspaper that Ukraine “will consider” negotiations on compensation...

Tuesday, June 8

Biden will “stand up firmly for Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and aspirations,” US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters about next week’s meeting with Putin. In an interview with Axios posted on Sunday, Zelenskiy asked for a meeting with Biden, complaining about...

The Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has told a US Congressional committee Monday that Nord Stream 2 is a “fait accompli.” Referring to worries that this Ukraine bypass pipeline will free Russia to attack Ukraine, Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee: “We have agreements in place, upfront, to come back on any ...

In contrast, Norbert Röttgen, Chairman of the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee, tweeted: “#Putin blackmails #Ukraine before #NordStream2 has even been finished. He uses the pipeline as exactly the kind of weapon, the Poles, B...

Ukraine’s Internal Affairs Minister Arsen Avakov predicted Saturday that after the launch of Nord Stream 2 Russia could sabotage the pipeline to justify stopping gas transit across Ukraine. Avakov told reporters: “We expect that there will be provocations, attempted terrorist attacks on our section of the gas pipeline. And then they will say: ‘Look, you see, that is why we transport it t...

Monday, June 7

The pipeline is to be discussed at the June 16 Putin-Biden summit in Geneva. Two weeks ago, Biden waived sanctions against the company building the pipeline, saying the line is almost finished and relations with Germany take precedence. Former US President Donald Trump, in a s...

Thursday, June 3

Only the US can stop Nord Stream 2 , President Zelenskiy told three visiting US Senators yesterday. “Nord Stream 2 will disconnect Ukraine from gas supplies, which means it will “disconnect” us from at least $ 3 billion a y...

With a high-level German delegation meeting Biden Administration officials in Washington this week, the Senators told reporters in Kyiv that they will continue to try to block the Russia-Germany gas line. Senator Jeanne Shaheen, Democrat of New Hampshire, said the pipeline licensing process and the ...

Thursday, May 27

President Biden justified his decision to waive sanctions against the company building the Nord Stream 2, saying Tuesday: “It’s almost completely finished.” Bloomberg reported the president saying: “To go ahead and impose sanctions now, I think, is counter-productive in terms of our Europe.”

Thursday, May 20

The Biden Administration is backing off imposing sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and its German CEO, Matthias Warnig, CNN and Axios have reported from Washington. Seeking to avoid serious damage to the Germany-US relationship, President Biden apparently has decided to sanction Russian ships and subcontractors, the re...

The Baltic Sea pipeline bypasses Ukraine and will concentrate enormous power in Germany as the main distributor of Russian natural gas to the EU . It will also deprive Ukraine of $1-2 billion in gas transit revenues and remove a brake on Russian behavior. Axios writes: “Bypassing Ukraine with a direct pipeline to Germany is an opportunity for ...

Monday, April 19

Nord Stream 2, the nearly completed Russia-Germany gas line, “is a matter of war,” President Zelenskiy said to Le Figaro newspaper prior to his meeting Friday with President Macron in Paris. “This is not a matter of business,” he said of the $10 billion trans-Baltic pipeline which i...

Wednesday, February 17

With demand strong for Ukrainian government bonds, the Finance Ministry depressed yields on all five hryvnia bonds sold at yesterday’s auction With demand strong for Ukrainian government bonds, the Finance Ministry depressed yields on all five hryvnia bonds sold at yesterday’s auction, the Ministry reported. With yields dropping from six to ...

Looking beyond the bland public statements surrounding Ukraine’s recent suspension of talks with the IMF, Looking beyond the bland public statements surrounding Ukraine’s recent suspension of talks with the IMF, Anders Aslund, a veteran IMF observer, writes in an Atlantic Council blog: “No agreement was c...

DiDi, China’s giant online taxi service, plans to launch this year in Ukraine, reports AIN.ua news site. With 550 million users DiDi, China’s giant online taxi service, plans to launch this year in Ukraine, reports AIN.ua news site. With 550 million users, tens of millions of users and billions of dollars in revenues, DiDi ent...

DiDi will compete with Bolt, Uber and Uklon for Ukraine’s taxi market, estimated by Uklon at $800 million a year. DiDi will compete with Bolt, Uber and Uklon for Ukraine’s taxi market, estimated by Uklon at $800 million a year. Uber, the first mover in Ukraine, now operates in seven Ukrainian cities and claims th...

Taxi services got a boost yesterday when the Rada overwhelmingly approved a bill raising the penalty for drunk driving to $608 Taxi services got a boost yesterday when the Rada overwhelmingly approved a bill raising the penalty for drunk driving to $608. For repeat offenders, the fine is doubled to $1,216, licenses are suspen...

McDonald’s Ukraine plans to expand a pilot program of restaurant waste recycling to all 96 restaurants in the country by the end of this year McDonald’s Ukraine plans to expand a pilot program of restaurant waste recycling to all 96 restaurants in the country by the end of this year, the company announced yesterday. As part of a world...

Kyiv’s 11th Regus office work space opens in Podil next month Kyiv’s 11th Regus office work space opens in Podil next month, reports the parent company, Luxembourg-based IWG Plc. Despite last year’s economic recession, total occupancy of the 10 existing Regus wo...