European companies back out of Nord Stream 2

Eighteen companies have terminated their participation or are in the process of withdrawing, following U.S. sanctions threats. The U.S. has only imposed sanctions on one company, but has threatened to "take further action."

So far, only the company operating this pipe-laying ship has faced U.S. sanctions

At least 18 European companies have either terminated their participation in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline or have pledged to withdraw from the project over threats of U.S. sanctions, according to a U.S. State Department report for Congress.

The State Department submitted a report on the pipeline to Congress on Friday, in a document which has not yet been publicly released.

The U.S. has threatened sanctions against several other companies involved in the construction and certification of the roughly 1,200-km gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea.

So far, however, the U.S. has only imposed sanctions on the Russian company KVT-RUS, which owns the Russian pipe-laying vessel Fortuna.

Most of the companies terminating their participation are insurance companies, the majority of which are based in the United Kingdom.

Among them are Munich-based insurer Munich Re Syndicate Limited and Switzerland-based Zurich Insurance Group. Axa Group, based in Paris, and civil engineering group Bilfinger of Mannheim have also terminated their involvement, according to the U.S. State Department.