Filling the second string of Nord Stream 2 (NS-2) with gas was finished the previous day; the gas pipeline is completely ready for operation. This was reported by Alexey Miller, head of Gazprom, during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the passing of the fall and winter heating season. TASS news agency quoted Miller as saying.
"Today at 12:58 a.m. Moscow time, Gazprom completed filling the second string of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with gas. Both the first and the second strings of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline are now under the working pressure and fully ready for operation," he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said that this new additional route will certainly "serve the issue of stabilizing prices on the European market."
"The launch of Nord Stream 2 will lead to a decrease in gas prices in Europe, particularly for Ukraine. Additional large volumes of gas from Russia will flow to Europe as soon as Nord Stream 2 is allowed to start. "Russia and its partners have completed the task of creating Nord Stream 2, now it is up to the Europeans," Putin said.
Meanwhile, November 16 German Federal Network Agency suspended the certification of Nord Stream 2 AG as an independent transport operator due to the issue of organizational and legal nature. The regulator said the process will be resumed when the firm, headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, transfers the main capital, as far as the German segment is concerned, to its German subsidiary. The process is suspended until the transfer of the main assets and human resources of the subsidiary has been completed and the Federal Network Agency can verify the new documents. As soon as they are received, the verification period will begin again.
The independent transport operator, the German Federal Network Agency, must be registered in order to start up the pipeline.
