Упрощенная HTML-версия
Author : I. Ivannikov
Postgraduate student, Chair of World Economy, Diplomatic Academy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of
the Russian Federation
THE GAS CONFLICT that broke out between
Russia and Ukraine in the wake of the February 2014
coup in Kiev made it even more important to mini-
mize the share of gas transported to Europe via
Ukraine. The planned South Stream would be not
enough to resolve the problem - the carrying capac-
ities of the functioning gas corridors, the recently
commissioned Nord Stream in the first place, which
bypass Ukraine, should be increased.
This article looks at the wide range of issues related
to the current stage of exploitation and the present economic efficiency of Nord Stream and
the expected effects of tapping its potentials to the full if the exemption clauses of the European
Union's Third Energy Package are cancelled.
The gas conflict which broke out between Russia and Ukraine in the wake of the February 2014
coup in Kiev made it even more important to minimize the share of gas transported to Europe
via Ukraine.
THE GEOPOLITICAL ADVANTAGES of the trans-Baltic gas pipeline are considerable: it
has excluded gas transit across third countries and brings gas from Russia directly to the EU
consumers which increases reliability of gas supplies and reduces insurance and political risks.
The undersea pipeline which bypasses third countries guarantees deliveries of huge amounts of
gas in case transit countries (Ukraine in the first place) start conflicts with Russia.
It is commercially attractive for two reasons: first, underwater pipelaying in the shallow Baltic
Sea proved to be much cheaper than on land, where land alienation would have required long
negotiations and big compensations. Second, the transit states are excluded from the gas trans-
portation balance: there are no transit payments which can be fairly high.
The strange games around Nord Stream are of a geopolitical rather than commercial nature:
our "Western partners" obviously want to supply Kiev, which is slowly but surely losing it exclu-
sive transit advantages, with another political trump.
The European Union and the United States cannot accept this: they want to force Russia to
move its gas across Ukraine.
THE UKRAINIAN CRISIS confirmed once more that the Trans-Baltic gas pipeline was a pri-
ority, that it was economically substantiated and had no alternatives.
http://interaffairs.ru
A "Gas Window on Europe": Nord Stream in the Context of Rus-
sia-EU Energy Cooperation