Russian Gazprom acknowledges that all its export pipelines could fall under US sanctions
Gazprom recognizes that new US sanctions adopted in August of this year create risks for all export pipelines, including both existing projects and those under construction. However, an accurate assessment of their costs will require commentary the US Treasury.
The Gazprom quarterly report published on Tuesday says that "The law of August 2, 2017 creates risk for the extraterritorial application of certain US sanctions, and may adversely affect the participation of foreigners in certain new projects of the company."
"After signature by US President D. Trump, the law of August 2, 2017 came into force… in particular, [the law] gives the US president the right to interact (coordinate) with the US allies to introduce certain sanctions measures against any person who, after the passage of the US law, knowingly made investments or sold goods, supplied technology, or provided services to the Russian Federation (valued at more than $1 million or totaling more than $5 million in aggregate over the year) in construction of and maintenance services for pipelines exporting energy resources, " the report states.
"The introduction of sanctions measures could create risks both for the implementation of the prospective Turkstream and Nord Stream 2 gas transportation projects, as well as for servicing existing export gas pipelines such as Nord Stream and Blue Stream," the report concludes.
"At the same time, it will only be possible to assess these risks more precisely if special US Presidential acts are adopted to implement this power, as well as if the US Treasury publishes official explanations or interpretations," notes Gazprom.