Berlin's decision to stop Nord Stream 2 certification

Alexey Gromov, Principal Director on Energy Studies of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to Pravda.ru regarding the suspension of Nord Stream 2 certification.

Alexey Gromov, in an interview with Pravda.Ru, commented on the order of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to terminate the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

“Frankly speaking, Russia has no other options than to start the process of negotiations with Germany on the issue of resuming the certification of Nord Stream 2, because the first instance that should certify the gas pipeline is precisely the German regulator. Therefore, the suspension of the procedure is bad news If Russia and Germany do not agree on the resumption, we can say the following: Nord Stream 2 will not start for geopolitical reasons," the specialist said.

He also warned that all participants would suffer because of the suspension of the Russian-German project. According to the expert, problems will arise for Germany and the European Union, since the countries will lose additional volumes of Russian gas. Consumers in the West "will pay for it out of their own pocket," Gromov added.

“Gazprom will also suffer, because if this decision is made, the investments that were made in Nord Stream 2 can be called irrevocable, since this gas pipeline will not be launched, which means that this money was buried in the ground. Therefore and Russia will suffer significant financial losses, since the project will actually be stopped and no one is obliged to return the money to Russia for this unrealized project," the expert explained.