The Wall Street Journal reported that American investor Stephen P. Lynch - who has spent decades doing business in Moscow - has reportedly asked US officials to allow bidding on Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline if it is auctioned in Swiss bankruptcy court.
Businessman Lynch has discussed with US senators, Treasury officials and state officials the possibility of US ownership of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline - a gas pipeline running from Russia to Germany across the Baltic Sea.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the United States and Europe to control Europe's energy supply for the rest of the fossil fuel era,” Lynch told the Wall Street Journal.
Lynch, a businessman who lives in South Florida and supports President-elect Donald Trump, believes a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine is very likely to be reached during Trump’s second term, which would see Russian gas flows to Germany restart once again.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Lynch applied for a license from the US Treasury Department in February, according to a letter written by his lawyers at WilmerHale. The license would allow Lynch to negotiate the acquisition of Nord Stream 2 AG, the Swiss-based operator of Russia’s 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.
Businessman Lynch argues that once the Russia-Ukraine conflict is over, both Russia and its former customers in Germany and Europe will be eager to start the pipeline, regardless of who owns it.
Lynch believes he can buy the Nord Stream 2 pipeline for a fraction of the price, which was once valued at around $11 billion. He said many bidders would not bid because of the complex geopolitical situation surrounding the pipeline. Potential bidders could include representatives of Russia, Chinese entities or others with disagreements with the United States.
“The Biden administration and the incoming Trump administration can agree on this,” said Lee Wolosky, a former special adviser to President Biden and a friend of Lynch’s. Lynch, an American investor with two decades of business experience in Moscow and a partnership with Russian oil company Rosneft, made him well-suited to lead the effort, Wolosky 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.
