MOSCOW. Aug 12 (Interfax) - Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project partners Gazprom, Engie, OMV, Shell, Uniper and Wintershall on August 12 decided to do without Polish consent to their forming a joint venture.
The partners said in a joint statement that the Swiss-registered Nord Stream 2 AG, currently wholly owned by Gazprom, would still be implementing the project, and that each partner would look for ways to make its own contribution to the project.
On August 12, the partners submitted a joint response to a statement of objections by Polish regulator UOKiK regarding their plans to form a joint venture. The partners said that following this they had decided to withdraw the notification of their merger, filed with the Polish regulator.
The decision to withdraw the notification will not affect the continuation by Nord Stream 2 AG of the planned construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, including the project’s schedule.
“This decision does not affect implementation of the project, which continues as planned. The decision only affects the acquisition of the existing project company’s shares by Gazprom’s Western partners. The current ownership of shares in Nord Stream 2 AG remains unchanged,” Nord Stream AG said in a press release.
“The implementation schedule of the Nord Stream 2 project also remains unchanged. The prospective shareholders will continue their close cooperation and their mutual efforts towards strengthening the security of the European gas supply,” it said.
The partners asked the Polish and German regulators to back the joint venture back in December 2015. The German regulator approved it in 18 days. The German regulator approved it in 18 days, but Poland took its time, making further requests of the applicants, and issued a statement of objections, to which the applicants could respond, at the end of July.
Nord Stream 2 envisages the construction of a gas pipeline system with a capacity of 55 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas a year from Russia to Germany along the bottom of the Baltic Sea. The route’s overall capacity will increase to 110 bcm per year.
