Wednesday, July 29, 2020

Nord Stream 2: US government increases the pressure on german contractors

While the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline has come to a halt due to sanction threats against the pipelaying operator the US government has now made clear that also german contractors will be targeted by sanctions if they do not establish that they withdraw from the controversial project, writes german newspaper "WELT":

"According to information from WELT, the US State Department asked German and European companies for one-on-one video interviews immediately after this step and made clear to them the far-reaching consequences of further project participation. According to circles of business representatives, German managers sat in the short-term meetings with up to twelve representatives from the three US departments Department of State (Foreign), Treasury (Finance) and Energy.
Among other things, companies should explain what needs to be done on the pipeline to fulfill their work order. The US officials "had made it very clear in a friendly tone that they wanted to prevent the pipeline from being completed," said one observer: "I think the threat is very, very serious." 
 
Die Firmen selbst, darunter technische Dienstleister, aber auch große Energiekonzerne wie Uniper, Wintershall Dea und Shell, wollten dazu gegenüber WELT keinen Kommentar abgeben. Auch öffentlich zumeist unbekannte mittelständische Zulieferer des Pipeline-Projekts sind Adressaten der Sanktionsdrohung geworden.

Aus dem Außenministerium in Berlin hieß es: „Das Auswärtige Amt hat Kenntnis darüber, dass die US-Seite Gespräche mit deutschen Unternehmen führt, um die CAATSA-Durchführungsbestimmungen zu erläutern.“ Man sei „mit den Unternehmen dazu ebenfalls in Kontakt“.


You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:

 

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