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When Nord Stream 2 was still a construction site: pipeline construction in Lubmin in March 2019
Photo: TOBIAS SCHWARZ / AFP
The operator of the Russian pipeline Nord Stream 2, based in the tax-efficient Swiss canton of Zug, has laid off all employees, according to Economics Minister Guy Parmelin.
140 people are affected, said Parmelin on television in western Switzerland.
The company asked for a meeting with representatives of the cantonal authorities this Tuesday, the broadcaster reported.
The operating company did not initially respond to a request.
The United States imposed sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG last week, prohibiting further business with the company.
Nord Stream 2 is a subsidiary of the Russian gas company Gazprom and has its headquarters in Zug, a good 30 kilometers south of Zurich.
The completed pipeline, which runs through the Baltic Sea, should bring Russian gas to Germany.
The federal government put the approval process for Nord Stream 2 on hold in view of the Russian escalation in Ukraine last week.
It has also been clear since last week that the MV Climate and Environmental Protection Foundation of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania will be dissolved.
Originally it was said that after the stop for Nord Stream 2, it should serve the other goals of the statute, which can also be explained by the name of the foundation.
The primary task of the foundation was to promote the pipeline, for which Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig was sometimes heavily criticized, also because the foundation was mainly financed by the Russian state gas company Gazprom.
mamk/dpa-AFX