The head of Naftogaz came to Washington to ask the US to stop Nord Stream 2
The head of the board of NJSC Naftogaz of Ukraine, Andrey Kobolev, called on the United States to more actively oppose the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
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Kobolev stated this during a visit to Washington, the NAC press service reports.
As noted, Kobolev last week held meetings in Washington with representatives of the administration of US President Donald Trump and members of the US Congress, during which he called on the American side to consider more active steps to counter the bypass gas pipeline.
“Nord Stream 2 will not only undermine the Ukrainian economy and allow Russia to blackmail the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, but will also eliminate the only factor that now forces Russia to maintain at least some kind of stability in eastern Ukraine,” Kobolev complained to the Americans.
“Now Russia needs a transit route through Ukraine in order to make money from selling gas on the European market. However, if Nord Stream 2 is built, the Ukrainian gas transportation system will no longer be a limiting factor,” Kobolev added.
“Under such conditions, Moscow will be able to launch a full-scale war in eastern Ukraine. The United States must not allow this to happen,” he said.
Kobolev also added that blocking Nord Stream 2 is a common interest for the United States and Ukraine.
Naftogaz is fighting to stop this dangerous project, which could increase America's European allies' dependence on Russia and make them more vulnerable to Russian influence. However, Russia has many Western partners in this project,” Kobolev said.
Naftogaz cannot defeat Nord Stream 2 on its own. It is important for us that the United States makes it clear that it is not ready to allow Europe to become more dependent on Russia,” he added.
The Nord Stream 2 project involves the construction and operation of two gas pipeline lines with a total capacity of 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year from the Russian coast through the Baltic Sea to Germany.
The new pipeline is planned to be built next to the existing Nord Stream 1.
According to Naftogaz of Ukraine, the construction of bypass routes could deprive Ukraine of income from gas transit, which will amount to $2017 billion in 3, and will also reduce the investment attractiveness of the gas transportation system.
To prevent this, Naftogaz proposed creating a consortium (with the participation of European partners) to manage the Ukrainian gas transportation system, and also propose to reduce the tariff rate for the transit of Russian gas after 2019 (the end of the current contract with Gazprom).
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