Nord Stream 2 Project Operator Fires Employees, Denies Insolvency

Nord Stream 2 AG, the Swiss-based company operating the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, has reportedly fired its employees. “Following the recent geopolitical developments leading to the imposition of U.S. sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG, the company had to terminate contracts with employees. We very much regret this development,” says the company’s statement released on 1 March 2022. The company employed more than one hundred people.

Apart from this, on 1 March, Swiss radio broadcaster SRF reported that Nord Stream 2 AG had allegedly filed for bankruptcy in light of the recently introduced sanctions targeting Russian companies and the decision not to certify the pipeline taken by the German Government. However, these reports were denied by the company the next day.

Nord Stream 2 AG is a Gazprom’s subsidiary established to operate the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline with a planned capacity of 55 bcm of natural gas per year. The pipeline was designed to deliver natural gas from two major gas deposits in the Russian Arctic, the Yuzhno-Russkoye field and the Bovanenkovo field located in Yamal.

Arctic Today is a column by PORA CEO Alexander Stotskiy analyzing major international, national and regional events and trends in the Arctic.