On November 26, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had not heard about Russian oil and gas group Gazprom wanting to sell Nord Stream 2 to American investors.
"I have not heard of any investors lobbying for an auction of this important energy infrastructure. I have not heard that the Russian side, through Gazprom, wants to sell it," TASS quoted Mr. Peskov as telling reporters when commenting on the information that American investor Stephen P. Lynch expressed his desire to buy Nord Stream 2.
"There is also a key factor here: the gas pipeline is a tool, a device. And everything depends on the reserves, the source of gas. Gazprom is the source of gas," Peskov said.
"I don't know if Gazprom wants to transfer gas transportation assets to the US. I haven't heard about it; perhaps you should ask the company itself," the spokesman pointed out.
The Russian President's press secretary also stressed that Nord Stream 2 does not need to be rebuilt.
“This is a complete pipeline that can be put into operation immediately, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated. One can only wonder why the German leadership does not look to the economic interests and economic viability of its industry, producers and citizens, but wants to buy gas at a higher price from other sources,” the Kremlin spokesman added.
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal reported that American investor Stephen P. Lynch - who has spent decades doing business in Moscow - had reportedly asked US officials to allow bidding on Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline if it were auctioned in a Swiss bankruptcy court.
Lynch applied for a license from the US Treasury Department in February. The license would allow Lynch to negotiate the acquisition of Nord Stream 2 AG, the Swiss-based operator of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Nord Stream 2 AG was sanctioned by the US after the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out.
In June, a Swiss court extended Nord Stream 2 AG’s bankruptcy proceedings until January 2025. If the company fails to restructure its debt by then — which is unlikely — it will face bankruptcy, the letter said.
Construction of Nord Stream 2 was to be completed at the end of 2021. However, the gas pipeline with a designed capacity of 55 billion cubic meters per year was not put into operation, as the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022 and the project operator did not have time to request permission from the German authorities. Berlin stopped the procedure.
On September 26, 2022, a series of explosions occurred on the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines in the Baltic Sea, and the culprit behind the Nord Stream sabotage is still unknown. However, one of the two branches of Nord Stream 2 was not affected.
