German government sources admit that the Nord Stream 2 pipelines became unusable after the September explosions and recall that the installation was never authorized to operate.
“It is very likely that the act of sabotage and the strong explosions have had negative effects on the pipelines and, therefore, the necessary technical conditions to start operating are not met,” said government sources quoted today by German public television ARD.
The clarification broadcast today by the ARD is the answer to a question posed by the far-right parliamentary group Alternative for Germany (AfD) that asked for answers about the possibility of using Nord Stream 2 tubes that had not been affected by the explosions.
The AfD party’s question was posed after the statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who suggested the possibility of using the pipeline to send gas again through the Nord Stream system.
In the same response broadcast today by the ARD television station, government sources recall that the Nord Stream 2 license authorization process was “suspended” last February following the new Russian aggression against Ukraine and, therefore, will not work.
The series of explosions in September, attributed to acts of sabotage, left two pipes in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and one of the tubes in Nord Stream 2 unusable.
Nord Stream 1, which had been operational in 2011, became inoperable.
The second pipeline, whose construction had begun in 2011, did not come into service.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz suspended the license in February, when it was nearly completed.
This controversial German-Russian project began in 2005 following a pact between then Chancellor Gerhard Schroder and political ally Vladimir Putin.
Germany’s strong energy dependence on Russia was maintained during the 16 years of power of Chancellor Angela Merkel, who decided to build the second gas pipeline (Nord Stream 2).
