The company Eustream is closely monitoring the developments surrounding the extension of the Nord Stream project. "Even though the final form of the project is not clear yet ... it's safe to expect that the realisation of the project will enable the complete bypassing of the Ukrainian route with all the potentially grave consequences for EU energy security", Eustream spokesman Vahram Chuguryan said on Sunday.
The company is reacting to the preliminary agreement between Russian giant Gazprom and Western European energy concerns regarding doubling the transport capacity of Nord Stream. According to Eustream, the full bypass of the Ukrainian route will lead to the gradual and inevitable decline of the Ukrainian system. The company warns that almost the entire volume of Russian gas would be supplied to Europe via a single point in Germany, together with the Yamal pipeline. According to its spokesperson, the gas infrastructure in Europe is not prepared for such transport in terms of capacity. This poses a risk of some countries not having enough gas. Last but not least, a number of countries in south-eastern Europe, such as Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, are not connected to western gas networks. Once the Ukrainian route is disabled, it will be impossible to deliver gas to them via Nord Stream, concludes the company Eustream.
"They're making fools of us", said Slovak Premier Robert Fico in his reaction on Thursday. "It isn't possible to talk on a political level about the need to stabilise Ukraine while at the same time adopting a decision that places not only Ukraine, but also Slovakia in an unenviable position", said the Slovak premier after meeting his Ukrainian counterpart. Robert Fico added that it may cost Ukraine billions and Slovakia hundreds of millions of euro each year. The Slovak Prime Minister rejected the notion that the deal between Gazprom and European energy companies is only a matter of business and believes that these concerns operating in EU countries have "betrayed" Slovakia as an EU member country. According to him, this is at odds with political agreements made at the European Council. The Slovak Prime Minister says he will bring the issue up at next month's EU summit.
The first Nord Stream branch was introduced in November 2011 and the second one in 2012. The gas pipeline worth €7.4 billion goes from Russia to Germany along the bed of the Baltic Sea.
