Austria expects the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline for carrying Russian gas to Europe to be completed successfully despite the US sanctions, Russian ambassador Dmitry Lyubinsky said in an interview with Sputnik
VIENNA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 31st December, 2020) Austria expects the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline for carrying Russian gas to Europe to be completed successfully despite the US sanctions, Russian ambassador Dmitry Lyubinsky said in an interview with Sputnik.
The Russian diplomat pointed to Austria's constructive, independent and consistent approach to the Nord Stream 2 project with participation of its leading energy concern OMV.
"They understand that the project is economically profitable for Austria and expect that the gas pipeline construction will be completed in accordance with the existing contracts despite the illegal US sanctions that serve selfish goals of pushing Russia back, promoting its own liquefied natural gas, and affecting the competitiveness of the EU energy-intensive industry," Lyubinsky said.
The Russian diplomat pointed to the exclusively commercial nature of the Nord Stream 2 project, stressing that it is aimed at uninterrupted supplies of gas to Europe amid the steadily growing consumption.
"From January-September, 8.8 billion cubic meters of gas were delivered to Austria under the existing contracts. We believe in the continuation of the 50-year story of successful Russian-Austrian energy cooperation," Lyubinsky said.
The Nord Stream 2 project aims at laying a 745-mile-long twin pipeline that will carry up to 2 trillion cubic feet of gas per year from Russia to Germany. The US opposes the project, as it seeks to export more liquefied natural gas to Europe. The pipeline construction was suspended a year ago after sanctions forced Swiss pipelay company Allseas to withdraw from the project. Pipeline construction was resumed earlier this December and is expected to take several months, according to expert estimates.
