Poland called Nord Stream gas pipeline fatal for Ukraine
The construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline could lead to tragic consequences for Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki believes, as reported by Dziennik.
"We believe that Nord Stream 2 is a very harmful project that threatens the security of Central Europe. This is a project that can be fatal for Ukraine, for our closest neighbor," Morawiecki said.
According to him, since Ukraine is excluded from the Russian plan to transport gas to Europe, nothing else will prevent Moscow from further destabilizing the situation in Ukraine.
Nord Stream 2 is a gas pipeline which is planned to be built along the Baltic Sea bed to transport 55 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe annually. The total cost of the project is €9.5 bn, the sole shareholder is Gazprom. Half the cost of the gas pipeline should be financed by five European oil and gas companies, Shell, OMV, Engie, Uniper, and Wintershall. The construction of the pipeline will allow Russia to supply gas to European consumers, bypassing Poland and Ukraine.
According to the head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, after the construction of the pipeline, starting in 2020, the volume of Russian gas transported through Ukraine may amount to around 15 billion cubic meters a year that will be reduced roughly fivefold.
Earlier, the President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, also discussed the dangers of the Nord Stream. According to him, the pipeline not only strikes "at the energy security of Poland and Ukraine," but also poses a threat to European unity. Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė is convinced that the construction of Nord Stream is an attempt to divide the EU. Former U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden has also highlighted that Nord Stream 2 was "a bad deal "for Europe.