The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany will be completed by the end of this summer, project head Matthias Warnig told German publication Handelsblatt on July 11.
“We expect the construction work to be completed by the end of August,” said the CEO of Nord Stream 2 AG, the consortium of companies working on the pipeline.
Warnig said that construction is 98% complete and only several dozen kilometers remain. The company expects the pipeline to be operational this year.
He added that the company is exploring the possibility of transporting hydrogen in about a decade.
If completed, the pipeline running under the Baltic Sea would allow Russia to bypass Ukraine when transporting gas to European countries, going through Germany instead. It will double the amount of Russian natural gas exports to Germany to 110 billion cubic meters annually.
While German officials called it a purely commercial project, others worry that the completed project will allow Russia to expand its influence on European countries.
Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are the most active opponents of Nord Stream 2.
The U.S. stated that it opposes the pipeline and approved sanctions on companies involved in the project. However, in late May, U.S. President Joe Biden waived sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 consortium and Warnig, saying it was in the U.S.’s national interest to do so.
Moscow announced in early June that it plans to fulfill its agreement to transport its gas through Ukraine through 2024.
