Germany Still Seeks NS2/Ukraine Solution

German economy and energy minister Peter Altmaier emerged from talks with Russian ministers May 15 saying he was optimistic that substantial transit flows across Ukraine will be maintained.

Altmaier said he sees a chance that in the next few days a solution will be found, according to German business newspaper Handelsblatt, after meeting Russian PM Dmitri Medvedev May 15.

According to Die Zeit, Altmaier was optimistic that the planned Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipe could be built while at the same time taking “Ukraine’s justified security interests” into account. After the visit, Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said that a solution "will be found." 

However no firm details have yet come to light, just days before German chancellor Angela Merkel is due in the Black Sea city of Sochi May 18 to meet Russian president Vladimir Putin; he had previously suggested there would be no need for Russian gas to transit Ukraine, if NS2 were built.

In an April 10 news conference with Ukraine president Petro Poroshenko, Merkel said that NS2 cannot proceed without clarity on Ukraine’s role as a gas transit route, while Altmaier too said April 16 that NS2 must balance all interests. Whilst it's yet clear how serious this precondition is Germany allowing the 55bn m³/yr NS2 project to proceed, certainly the project's developer was keen to emphasise progress.  

The Nord Stream 2 company said May 15 it started preparatory works for NS2-pipelaying offshore Germany in Greifswald Bay and the company's chief commercial officer Reinhard Ontyd told the Flame gas conference in Amsterdam May 15 that the pipe will enter service end-2019 or early 2020.  The company also said May 15 it received a further approval for NS2 from a Russian government department.