On Wednesday, 2 March, Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the German government’s decision to suspend certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline following the Russian invasion of Ukraine as “unacceptable”, believing that it will inevitably lead to a rapid rise in gas prices, according to information from Reuters news agency.
Margrethe Vestager, the European Commission’s executive vice-president responsible for competition policy, had declared that the freeze on Nord Stream 2’s certification would have no direct impact on gas prices in Europe, given the pipeline is not yet in operation anyhow (see EUROPE 12897/19).
Speaking on the German radio station Deutschlandfunk, German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck affirmed that his country is prepared for the possibility that Russian gas deliveries will stop.
“I can give the all-clear for the current winter and summer”, he said, as Germany announced a €1.5 billion order for non-Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Mr Habeck also intimated that the country was possibly going to have to delay its exit from coal “as a precaution”. (Original version in French by Damien Genicot)