Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has said that the Nord Stream II gas pipeline project goes against the European gas market's declared principles, would cause significant damage to Ukraine and Slovakia, and would perpetuate the European Union's energy dependence on Russia, and therefore Kyiv expects the European Commission to block this project.
“I hope that not only will the European Commission take note of this, but that the right decision will also be made, which would meet not the price but European values,” Yatsenyuk said at a joint press conference with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico in Bratislava on Sept. 10.
It was reported earlier that the shareholders in the company that would build the third and fourth lines of the Nord Stream gas pipeline had signed an agreement in Moscow on Sept. 4. The new consortium includes six participants, i.e. Gazprom, E.ON, BASF/Wintershall, OMV, Engie, and Shell. Gazprom said in a statement that the joint project company New European Pipeline AG would deliver the project. Gazprom will own 51 percent of the company, E.ON, Shell, OMV and BASF/Wintershall will have 10 percent each and Engie 9 percent.
Nord Stream II will add two lines, whose combined capacity should reach 55 billion cubic meters, to the existing pipeline that transports gas along the Baltic Sea floor from Russia to the German coast.
