Gazprom said on Friday it had finished construction of the Nord Stream 2 subsea pipeline to Germany, which could allow Russia to double lucrative gas exports to Europe via the Baltic Sea while bypassing and cutting off a source of income for political foe Ukraine.
"The head of the management board, Alexei Miller, told the morning meeting at Gazprom that the construction of Nord Stream 2 was fully completed today in the morning at 0845 Moscow time," Gazprom said.
On Thursday, Russia said pumping commercial gas supplies via Nord Stream 2 would not start until a German regulator gives the green light. Before Germany's energy regulator approves Nord Stream 2, it must comply with European unbundling rules that require pipelines owners to be different from suppliers of gas flowing in them to ensure fair competition. The German regulator, the Bundesnetzagentur, said it does not know how long it will take to reach a decision on certification but it can penalize the consortium if it starts operations without approval.
In Ukraine, Gazprom's announcement on the construction completion was met with skepticism. Kyiv risks losing billions of dollars in gas transit fees if Moscow halts gas supplies via Ukraine.
“Constructed doesn't mean to put it on stream. And this won't happen until the pipeline is certified," Olha Belkova, a manager at Ukraine's gas pipelines operator, said in emailed comments to Reuters.
Although German regulators have yet to clear gas flows, completion of the construction stage means Russia has boosted its energy-exporting capabilities towards Europe both from the north in the Baltic Sea and from the south in the Black Sea, where it operates the TurkStream pipeline. The route, jointly with the existing Nord Stream pipeline, will double annual export capacity to 110 billion cubic meters, around half of Russia's total gas exports to Europe a year.
It's worth noting that Gazprom started construction of the 1,200-km long Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany five years ago. Progress of the $11 billion project stalled at the end of 2019 when then U.S. president Donald Trump imposed sanctions. Construction restarted around a year later with the engagement of Russia's own vessels.
The project has drawn criticism from the United States and Ukraine among others. Washington says it will increase Europe's reliance on Russian energy supplies.