Germany's Merkel Defends Russian Gas Pipeline Plan
18 December 2015 - 2:50PM
Dow Jones News
BRUSSELS—Germany's chancellor Friday defended a planned pipeline
that would ship Russian natural gas to Northern Germany via the
Baltic Sea and which European Union and U.S. officials fear could
undermine the economic and political stability of Ukraine.
"I made clear, along with others, that this is a commercial
project; there are private investors," Angela Merkel said following
discussions on the Nord Stream 2 project with the other 27 EU
leaders.
Russia's PAO Gazprom holds a 50% stake in the Nord Stream 2
consortium. The other 50% are held in equal parts by Royal Dutch
Shell PLC, Germany's E. ON AG and BASF AG, Austria's OMV AG and
France's Engie SA.
Officials in Brussels and Washington and the government in Kiev
are worried that adding an extra 55 billion cubic meters in
capacity to the existing Nord Stream pipes would allow Moscow and
Gazprom to avoid shipping gas through Ukraine. Its position as a
transit country for Russian gas to the EU has given Ukraine
political leverage in its standoff with Russia and the government
earns around $2 billion in transit fees every year.
Ms. Merkel said that a solution on Nord Stream should be found
that would maintain Ukraine as a transit country. "That's the
political wish," she said.
The discussion Friday was triggered by Italian Prime Minister
Matteo Renzi, European officials said. Asked about the standoff,
Ms. Merkel said it was "normal" that EU leaders hold different
views on certain issues from time to time.
"Italy would have liked to be involved in SouthStream," Ms.
Merkel said, referring to an earlier Russian pipeline project that
would have bypassed Ukraine on the South and which Moscow canceled
a year ago amid pushback from the EU.
Write to Gabriele Steinhauser at
gabriele.steinhauser@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 18, 2015 09:35 ET (14:35 GMT)
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