Russian President Vladimir Putin sees no problem in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline starting to supply natural gas to Europe as soon as it gets the green light from the German regulator. He blames the European Union’s policy for the energy crisis.
“If the German regulator approves the pipeline tomorrow, it will start flowing 17.5 billion cubic meters to Europe tomorrow,” said Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that the gas crisis was a consequence of the European Union‘s energy policy.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline connecting Russia and Germany across the Baltic Sea has already been technically completed. The first pressure tests are now underway and are awaiting approval by the German transmission network regulator Bundesnetzagentur.
The capacity of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is 55 billion cubic meters per year. The Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline with the same capacity has been operating on a similar route for nine years. So if both start operations, up to 110 billion cubic meters of gas can flow into the European Union each year. This represents about half of Europe’s 27 natural gas imports.
