The largest Austrian oil and gas company in Central Europe OMV is the latest financial partner of Russian Gazprom in Nord Stream 2, which has stopped payments due to US sanctions.
OMV said on March 25 that as of December 31, 2020, no financial commitments for Nord Stream 2 had been provided. It is reported by Argusmedia.
Payments in 2020 amounted to only 17.5 million euros, compared with 113 million euros in 2019. OMV strives to comply fully with all applicable sanctions.
In particular, the company regularly assesses the risks resulting from political and regulatory changes inside and outside Europe, with potential adverse consequences for Nord Stream 2 and OMV’s operations in Russia. There, the company has a share of producing gas assets.
Note that OMV is one of five lenders, along with Shell, Germany’s Uniper, oil and gas firm Wintershall Dea and French energy firm Engie, which collectively have pledged to provide long-term financing for half of the project’s cost. For example, Wintershall Dea said in February that payments amounted to 730 million euros and ended before the revision of section 232 of the US Law on Countering American Opponents through Sanctions. The company said that it is not planning any further payments.
As a reminder, the head of the Gazprom board of directors Viktor Zubkov said that construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will be completed in 2021. At the moment, it is 90-92% completed.
As reported OBOZREVATEL:
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