Tuesday, December 1, 2020

Nord Stream 2: local prime minister creates foundation to bypass US-sanctions

 Staunch supporter of the infamous pipeline Nord Stream 2, prime minister of the land Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Manuela Schwesig, does her utmost to complete the pipeline while avoiding US-sanctions on german companies involved in the project. A foundation was created that acts as a target of the sanctions and leaves the companies involved unharmed, writes german newspaper BILD.


Can a German cheat foundation save Russia's prestige project “Nord Stream 2” at the last second?

According to BILD information, the State Chancellery of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, headed by Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (46, SPD), is working quickly on a tool to circumvent existing US sanctions against the Gazprom project “Nord Stream 2” that will be added from January.

For this purpose, a “Stiftung Klimaschutz MV” is to be established in the next few days. A ruse, because, according to BILD information, the alleged climate foundation should shortly afterwards identify the almost finished Russian pipe as the "most important component for environmental protection in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania" and then do everything in its power to contribute to the completion of the project.


To this end, according to an insider on BILD, the foundation is again to set up a commercial enterprise whose products and services are only used to complete the Putin tube.

The coup: German companies threatened by US sanctions would make their services available to the foundation and its operations, which in turn would then pass them on to the Russians. Technically speaking, no company would interact with "Nord Stream 2", there would be no sanctions and the Russian state project could still be completed.

BILD asked the responsible ministry for energy, infrastructure and digitization in Schwerin what the dubious foundation was all about.

The telling answer after more than 24 hours of reflection: "No comment!"

Background: The construction of the controversial Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 is to continue this year after a one-year interruption. The first thing to do is to work on an almost three-kilometer stretch in the Baltic Sea on German territory.

Russian gas is to flow through the 1230-kilometer pipeline from Siberia to Germany and Western Europe. The line is almost complete. However, under pressure from the USA, work has largely come to a standstill.

The US rejects the project on the grounds that it will make Europe too dependent on Russian gas supplies. The project also has well-known opponents in Germany. For example, the CDU foreign politician and candidate for party leadership, Norbert Röttgen, demanded an immediate construction stop at Nord Stream 2 because of the poisoning of opposition politicians.



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