FRANKFURT – Uniper, one of the five co-financiers of Gazprom’s Nord Stream 2, is currently not examining any legal steps in the wake of Germany’s decision to indefinitely suspend the pipeline, its chief executive said.
“We are not dealing, at least not at the moment, with any questions as to whether this could or would have legal consequences,” Klaus-Dieter Maubach told journalists after presenting full-year results.
“Because we are counting on a diplomatic solution, hopefully a diplomatic solution very soon, and then the certification process around Nord Stream will be resumed.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Tuesday effectively pulled the plug on the project, saying that in light of recent events the country’s Economy Ministry had to provide a fresh assessment on whether the pipeline was putting European energy supply at risk.
“I would believe that if anyone considers legal actions against the German government or the European Commission, it would be Nord Stream 2 … and not us being basically a financial investor,” Maubach said.
“And I don’t have any reason to believe that they are considering such type of action.”
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz, Vera Eckert and Tom Kaeckenhoff; Editing by Miranda Murray)
