What is Nord Stream 2 and how is affected by the Russia-Ukrainian crisis?

It is just one of the economic sanctions to be implemented in the event of a possible invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

The last few days Berlin has made it clear that in the event of an attack all options will be discussed, including the gas pipeline.

The new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in a line with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has threatened Russia at great cost if it invades Ukraine.

Support has also come from the US, as US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has said: Significantly, North Stream 2 is still not producing gas, which means that gas pipeline is a means of pressure for Germany, the US and our allies, not for Russia.

What is Nord Stream 2?

Nord Stream 2 is a project that enables Germany to operate independently on the energy market in Europe.

Although the pipeline between Russia and Germany is officially complete, it is not yet functional.

Nord Stream 2 runs parallel to the Nord Stream 1, which is in operation from 2011 to the middle of the Baltic Sea. The pipeline extends to 1,230km and connects Ust-Luga in Russia with Greifswald in northeast Germany.

Its construction started in May 2018 and ended in September 2021, a year and a half later on the anticipated deadline.

The gas pipeline owner is Russian state gas giant Gazprom, who took over half the cost of the 9.5 billion-euro project.

Other costs were financed by a consortium of European companies, including OMB (Austri), Wintershall Dea (Germany), Engie (French), Univer (German) and Shell (United Kingdom).

The tubes are supposed to distribute 55 billion cubic metres of gas annually, but the project still needs to be certified by German authorities before gas distribution starts.