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Exit Nord Stream: A construction site sign for the pipeline in Lubmin in western Pomerania
Photo: ODD ANDERSEN / AFP
The oil and gas group Wintershall Dea is the first party to completely write off the Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea pipeline project, which is about to come to an end.
The board of directors decided to write off Wintershall Dea's share of the financing, the company announced.
The group has lost around one billion euros.
The pipeline, which costs around 9.5 billion euros, belongs to the Russian gas company Gazprom, but Wintershall Dea, the supplier Uniper, the Austrian OMV, the French Engie and Shell took over half of the financing.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, the pipeline was put on hold.
The Switzerland-based project company Nord Stream 2 AG has already laid off all of its employees, but according to information on Wednesday has not yet filed for bankruptcy.
According to information from the Reuters news agency, that could happen this week.
On Tuesday, the government councilor of the canton of Zug, Silvia Thalmann-Gut, told the broadcaster SRF that the operating company had "deposited the balance sheet", i.e. had to file for bankruptcy.
Operator denies bankruptcy
On Wednesday, Nord Stream 2 AG denied: "The company only informed the local authorities that it had to terminate contracts with employees after US sanctions were imposed on the company." had been initiated.
»We are aware that Nord Stream 2 is struggling with enormous payment difficulties.
The company has not yet filed for bankruptcy with the Zug Commercial Register.«
Wintershall DEA, in which the chemical group BASF holds 67 percent, also wants to stop all new oil and gas production projects in Russia.
Payments to Russia would be stopped immediately.
However, the company is sticking to the existing natural gas production projects Yuzhno Russkoye and Achimov in Siberia.
The foreseeable end of Nord Stream 2 also has an impact on pending court cases.
As reported by the Higher Administrative Court of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in Greifswald, two oral hearings planned for March were canceled.
Under the current circumstances, everyone involved would have asked for this.
According to the environmental organization, the lawsuit brought by the German Nature Conservation Union (Nabu) against the Stralsund Mining Authority included allegations of an incomplete environmental impact assessment.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has sharply criticized the federal government for stopping the approval of the northern pipeline.
"Berlin's decision will irreparably damage Russian-German relations, which have been anything but smooth in recent years, through no fault of our own," said the ministry's spokeswoman in Moscow, Maria Zakharova.
"Responsibility for the consequences of these illegal actions, which call into question Germany's reputation as a reliable foreign trade partner, lies solely with the German side."
mamk/Reuters/dpa
