Russia will complete the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline project, head of Gazprom Export Elena Burmistrova said speaking at the European Gas Conference.
She stressed that the pipeline is currently 94% complete.
The head of Gazprom Export also said that last year, Gazprom’s export to non-CIS countries amounted to 199.3 bln cubic meters of gas, including 382 mln cubic meters delivered to China.
According to Burmistrova, Gazprom expect its export to Europe to remain at the level that has been achieved over the past years with adjustments that are related to weather conditions.
Following the U.S. sanctions imposed on December 20, Allseas, a Swiss company laying the pipes for the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, suspended its work on the project and recalled its ships.
A leading analyst of the National Energy Security Fund, a lecturer at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation, Igor Yushkov told Vestnik Kavkaza that Russia will complete the Nord Stream-2 in about a year. "Nowadays, the modernization of the Akademik Chersky ship is underway so that it can lay a pipe of the desired diameter on the bottom of the Baltic Sea," he explained.
"For Russia it does not make sense to rush, because the transit contract with Ukraine has a rather strict condition on which the pumping volume is calculated daily. While we are fulfilling this agreement, there is time for competent preparation. Russia needs to assemble a full-fledged fleet of supply vessels that will haul pipes for the Akademik Chersky ship, if it is chosen to finish the laying - and expect that each such vessel will fall under sanctions," Igor Yushkov concluded.
