Germany suspends Nord Stream 2 certification process, gas prices soar in Europe
Germany's energy regulator has suspended the approval process for the Nord Stream 2 project, a sprawling undersea pipeline that will carry Russian gas directly into the European country.
The German Federal Network Agency (BNetzA) made the announcement in a statement on Tuesday, saying it could not certify the Gazprom-controlled Nord Stream 2 as an independent operator because the company was based in Switzerland, not Germany.
"Following a thorough examination of the documentation, the [regulator] concluded that it would only be possible to certify an operator of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline if that operator was organized in a legal form under German law," the statement said.
The regulator said its approval procedure would remain suspended until "the main assets and human resources" have been transferred from the Swiss-based Nord Stream 2 AG company to its German subsidiary, which owns and operates the German part of the pipeline.
Under German law, the BNetzA has four months to review documentation and make a decision on whether to approve the pipeline.
European gas prices jumped almost 11% on the news as Europe faces an energy supply crunch and the threat of power outages this winter.
The German decision comes at a time of rising tension between the European Union and Russia over Ukraine and a migrant crisis on the Belarus-Poland border.
Kiev and Warsaw have both welcomed the move by Germany to put the approval process on hold.
The pipeline was finally completed in September but was awaiting the approval process to be completed before it could go online.
Last month, Russian President Vladimir Putin said his country could help ease Europe's natural gas supply issues once German regulators gave the green light for the delivery of gas through Nord Stream 2.
Russia has already pumped gas under the Baltic Sea via Nord Stream 1, which has the capacity to carry 55 billion cubic meters.
Nord Stream 2 is an international project for the construction of a gas pipeline that is set to bring Russian gas to Germany under the Baltic Sea bypassing transit states such as Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, and other Eastern European states. The 745-mile-long pipeline, which is set to double Moscow's annual gas export capacity in the Baltic to 110 billion cubic meters, traverses the economic zones and territorial waters of five countries, namely Russia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany.
However, the United States is strongly against the project, claiming that the pipeline will increase Europe's reliance on Russian energy.
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