German insurance company stops insuring Nord Stream 2 pipeline

German insurance company stops insuring Nord Stream 2 pipeline

German insurance company stops insuring Nord Stream 2 pipeline
German insurance company Munich Re, headquartered in Munich, announced the decision to stop work on the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline.  Cancellation of the contract is not connected with the current aggravation of the geopolitical situation, the firm's representatives said.

The decision to do so was made public a year ago, when the threat of sanctions loomed over the project.  At that time, 17 enterprises from Europe and the USA left Nord Stream 2.  Bloomberg cites the words of Joachim Wenning, who is the chief executive officer of a large reinsurer.
At a press conference held on February 23, he confirmed the decision to terminate the company's cooperation with the gas pipeline.
The head of Munich Re noted that the client is unlikely to accept the termination of the contract, which means that further litigation is likely to follow.

We should remind our readers that the Nord Stream 2 AG filed an application with the German regulator (BNetzA) last year in order to be legalized as an independent operator.  This procedure was suspended in November 2021 as the EU law requires the separation of business entities responsible for gas supply and pipeline management.

By January 2022, the company met this requirement by creating a subsidiary that will manage the pipeline section in Germany.  At the same time, German officials, represented by the head of the network agency Jochen Homann, announced the possibility of a positive verdict on issuing a certificate to the company no earlier than June 2022.
On February 22, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz publicly announced that the certification of the gas pipeline should be stopped.
The reason was the recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk people's republics by the Russian Federation.  Scholz appealed to the Ministry of Economy of Germany to withdraw the analytical report on the energy security of the gas pipeline, submitted to the Federal Grid Agency.

The head of the ministry, Robert Habek, noted that this decision was of technical importance and did not mean the liquidation of the project.  And although the head of the department expressed regret at the very fact that the construction of Nord Stream 2 had already begun, certification of the gas pipeline could still be continued.

At the same time, a number of politicians call the current decision of the executive branch of Germany ‘problematic’. In particular, Klaus Ernst, the head of the profile committee of the German parliament, gave such an assessment.  In his opinion, the suspension of the launch of the pipeline will have a negative impact on the supply of fuel to more than a dozen European countries.

24.02.2022