The latest news about Nord Stream 2 is that an American businessman who has cooperated with Russian oil company Rosneft is looking to buy Nord Stream 2 AG - the Swiss-based operating company that controls Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.
This information was sourced from the US Treasury Department and documents from other sources obtained by the Washington Post.
The proposed acquisition by Moscow-based American businessman Stephen Lynch could lay the groundwork for the gas pipeline between Russia and Germany to be reactivated in the event of a ceasefire in Ukraine.
The Nord Stream 2 acquisition proposal comes as Europe prepares for US President-elect Donald Trump to push for talks between Russia and Ukraine, while German Chancellor Olaf Scholz seeks to play a role as a peace broker. Last week, Scholz spoke by phone for the first time in two years with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Businessman Stephen Lynch described the acquisition as cutting Russia out of the Nord Stream network and placing the Baltic Sea gas pipeline under US control. In February, Lynch submitted documents to the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which enforces US sanctions. The Swiss company Nord Stream 2 AG was sanctioned by the US after the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out.
Nord Stream 2 is facing bankruptcy proceedings under Swiss law starting on January 1, 2025. A source familiar with the matter noted that selling the pipeline to an American businessman could be the most attractive option for Russia's Gazprom - the main owner of Nord Stream 2 - because Lynch is someone Russia can trust.
A US official questioned the possibility of the deal paving the way for the reopening of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. “There is no benefit to the United States in reviving Nord Stream 2 at this time,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He noted that when the conflict broke out in Ukraine, Europe itself recognized that Russian gas was a dangerous lever and stopped buying Russian gas.
A former US intelligence official said the possibility of Lynch acquiring the Nord Stream 2 pipeline network to bring it under US control is "very slim".
Businessman Lynch has experience in acquiring assets related to Russia such as the Yukos oil field, the Swiss branch of the Russian state bank Sberbank...
The Nord Stream 2 pipeline was completed in September 2021 but never officially entered operation because Germany suspended its certification on February 22, 2022, when the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out. The September 2022 explosion damaged the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines, but a branch of Nord Stream 2 remained intact.
The German government has declined to comment on Lynch’s Nord Stream 2 acquisition proposal or the future of Nord Stream 2 if a peace deal is reached between Moscow and Kiev. Lynch’s Nord Stream 2 acquisition proposal has attracted the support of powerful German lobbyists, including Berlin Global Advisors, where Rudiger von Fritsch, the former German ambassador to Russia who led the effort to launch Nord Stream 2, is a leading partner.
