Reuters reported that in a remarkable move on both economic and geopolitical fronts, the Zug State Court (Switzerland) has just approved a settlement agreement between Nord Stream 2 AG and creditors, thereby temporarily helping the company escape the risk of bankruptcy after the protection procedure postponement order ended.
According to public broadcasterSRF, the above decision prevents the bankruptcy scenario that was once hanging on Nord Stream 2 AG's head. The company has struggled financially since US sanctions and Germany's cancellation of Nord Stream 2 certification in March 2022, shortly after Russia launched a special military campaign in Ukraine.
Nord Stream 2 AG owes about 150 creditors and is facing almost complete financial paralysis. Although the Nord Stream 2 construction project has been completed - including two 1,200km pipeline lines under the Baltic Sea to bring Russian gas to Germany - Nord Stream 2 has never been officially put into operation.
The mysterious explosion that destroyed Nord Stream in September 2022 further hampered the project's future.
However, the court's approval of the arrangement allows Nord Stream 2 AG to continue pipeline maintenance, expected in the second or third quarter of this year, and opens up the possibility of finding a new investor, possibly from the US.
This ruling can be appealed, but it currently allows the company to avoid bankruptcy and continue to maintain activities related to the project, the Zug state court emphasized.
Recently, many Western sources said that some US investors, including businessman Stephen P. Lynch - a billionaire known as a supporter of President Donald Trump - are considering investing in Nord Stream 2.
Some analysts also believe that the pipeline could become a strateistic card in a US-Russia peace deal to end the conflict in Ukraine.
In March, on national television, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also unexpectedly mentioned "Nord Stream is being discussed", making observers speculate about the possibility of restoring the role of the project that was once likened to a "gas corridor" connecting Russia with the EU.
