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The German federal antimonopoly agency (Bundeskartellamt) has approved the purchase of shares in the North Stream 2 AG company project by a group of European partners (Wintershall, Shell, E.ON, ENGIE, OMV).
As the local press reports, this decision was taken on December 18th, but published on December 22nd. From the observers’ point of view, this decision by the German authorities implies that economics, in this case, is more important than politics.
To remind you, North Stream 2 includes the construction of the 3rd and 4th lines along the bottom of the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany. After being put into operation, their total capacity will be 110 bln m3 a year.
Austria will be able to use the gas from the North Stream 2. It will allow them to reject the transportation of gas through unstable Ukraine. As reported before, five foreign partners have 10% each, and Gazprom retains 50%.
