Ukrainian, Swedish Prime Ministers Discuss Nord Stream 2, Bilateral Cooperation

Ukrainian, Swedish Prime Ministers Discuss Nord Stream 2, Bilateral Cooperation

Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk and his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven discussed a number of key aspects of bilateral cooperation and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the press service of the Ukrainian government said in a statement on Wednesday

KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 05th December, 2019) Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk and his Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven discussed a number of key aspects of bilateral cooperation and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, the press service of the Ukrainian government said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The operation of gas pipelines in the territory of the European Union should be strictly aligned with the norms of European law, in particular, the EU gas directive. It is critical to ensure that no exceptions are made by the EU Member States with regards to Nord Stream 2. It is a matter of energy security within the region and the quality of services provided in the European energy market," Honcharuk said, as quoted by the statement.

The prime minister also tackled issues of mutual cooperation between Stockholm and Kiev.

"The Government of Ukraine relies on the support of Sweden in the framework of the Assistance Strategy for Eastern Europe 2021-2027, in particular regarding the plans to set up a network of European Integration Offices in the regions Ukraine. Sweden has experience of implementing a similar project when paving its way towards joining the EU," Honcharuk added.

Lofven, in turn, stressed that Ukraine was one of Sweden's key partners in development cooperation.

"It is critical for us to support the Government of Ukraine in implementing key reforms in the country, notably the decentralization reform. We are also interested in strengthening bilateral trade. There are about 90 Swedish companies operating in Ukraine. I hope this number will only grow," the Swedish prime minister said.

In addition, a number of other issues were discussed at the meeting, in particular, the beginning of negotiations on an "industrial visa-free regime."

"At the beginning of next year, a meeting of the EU-Ukraine Association Council is to take place and we are planning to start the negotiations on an ACAA Agreement [Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance of Industrial Products] - the so-called industrial free visa regime. The agenda will also include sectoral integration into the EU in the following areas: digital, energy, justice and home affairs," Honcharuk said.

The Nord Stream 2 project is a joint venture between Gazprom and five European companies: France's ENGIE, Austria's OMV, the UK-Dutch Royal Dutch Shell, and Germany's Uniper and Wintershall. The 745-mile-long twin pipeline will carry up to 55 billion cubic meters (1.942 trillion cubic feet) of gas per year from Russia to Germany, passing through the territorial waters or exclusive economic zones of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Russia and Sweden.

The United States has been consistently trying to undermine the project, threatening everyone involved with sanctions, while promoting its liquefied natural gas on the European market.