Forbes: Russian Controlled Gas Pipelines Bad For Europe Energy Security, According To Ukraine

Ukraine state-owned energy giant, Naftogaz, warned Friday that the Gazprom-led natural gas pipelines currently connecting Europe to Russian gas fields is more bad news than good.

“Russia’s Nord Stream-2 and the new Turkish Stream pipelines provide additional choice, and more choice is a great thing. However, it is a great thing not for the European consumers but for their Russian supplier,” said Andry Kobolyev, the CEO of Naftogaz. “It will be Russia that decides where, to whom and on which political conditions it is going to supply its gas in Europe,” he said.

The Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project puts Gazprom with Germany’s E.ON , BASF /Wintershall and Royal Dutch Shell in Europe. Recent sanctions against Russian oil and gas companies are focused on technology transfers, joint ventures and funding of oil and gas drilling projects. New pipeline deals are not sanctioned. Naftogaz said Nord Stream undermined the interests of Ukraine and Slovakia as transit points for Russian gas into the E.U. Kobolyev called it “yet another redundant pipeline controlled by Gazprom” designed to increase the European Union’s dependence on Russia.

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