Sputnik News – The lawsuit filed by the German environmental charity Nabu against the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline halted the issuance of the work permit by the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), the press service of the regulator told Sputnik on Tuesday, adding that construction could be resumed in May.
“The lawsuit has a suspensive effect on the permit. The claim is directed against the second amended BSH permit of 14 January 2021. With this permit, BSH approved the laying of the pipeline by an anchored vessel between late September and late May on a 16.5 km [10 miles] section in Germany’s exclusive economic zone in the Baltic Sea”.
“From the end of May, it will be allowed to continue the construction of Nord Stream 2 in accordance with the current regulation. In March 2018, Nord Stream 2 received a permanent permit to lay the pipeline from the end of May through the end of September”, the BSH press service said.
On Monday, Nabu took legal action against the Nord Stream 2 project, arguing that the gas link could damage the Baltic Sea’s sensitive marine ecosystem.
Nord Stream 2 will carry Russian natural gas to Germany across the Baltic Sea. It consists of two 1,230-kilometre (764-mile) lines with a combined capacity of 55 billion cubic metres of gas a year. Earlier this year, the operator stated that only 148 kilometres (92 miles) of the pipeline were still to be completed.
However, since the beginning of the project, it has been facing constant attacks from the United States. Washington has been scaring the EU that the pipeline will increase western Europe’s energy dependency on Russia, and slapped Nord Stream 2 with several rounds of sanctions.
Moscow and Berlin, however, noted that the pipeline is a purely economic project, adding that the American attempts to “dictate” Germany’s energy policy are nothing but unfair competition, as the US is trying to sell its own LNG to Europe.
