Russian energy giant Gazprom has almost completed the construction of the controversial Nord Stream 2 link, which can divert transit gas flows still going through Ukraine to Europe, the Reuters news agency has reported.
It quoted Sergiy Makogon, CEO of Ukraine’s gas transmission system operator GTS, as saying that as the Ukrainian route for gas delivery to Europe may disappear when Nord Stream 2 comes on stream.
"If Gazprom achieves the launch of Nord Stream 2 and we are forced to optimize the (Ukrainian) system, there will be no option for Europe to return to Ukraine," Makogon said, as quoted by Reuters.
Ukraine and several other countries have denounced the pipeline as a Russian weapon and a threat to European security.
Poland has strongly criticized the Nord Stream 2 project amid concerns that it will make the European Union more dependent on Russian gas.
Makogon told Reuters that as soon as Nord Stream 2 is completed, giving Gazprom the technical ability to bypass Ukraine, Russia "will do everything to abandon the physical transit" through his country.
A German regional court last month ruled against exempting Nord Stream 2 AG, the owner of the controversial gas pipeline from Russia, from the provisions of the European Union's Third Energy Package, a Polish business website has reported.
Senior lawmakers from Poland, the United States and seven other countries have issued a joint statement to slam Nord Stream 2 after a recent deal between Washington and Berlin on the controversial project.
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline gives Russia a chance to destabilize NATO, a Polish security official warned this summer after the United States and Germany reached the deal, which allows the contested project to be completed.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said in late July that the agreement between Washington and Berlin posed a risk to the security of a large portion of Europe.
Meanwhile, a Polish business website last week reported that Europe could face a supply crisis amid high demand for natural gas and record high prices.
Cassim Mangerah, managing director at British Gas owner Centrica, has said that a prolonged or particularly cold winter could send gas prices even higher, the biznesalert.pl website reported.
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Source: biznesalert.pl, Reuters