German obstacle: Gazprom said it is having difficulties getting German regulatory approval for Nord Stream
Nord Stream faces German hurdle
Gazprom has admitted it is facing regulatory problems in Germany that could delay its landmark Nord Stream gas pipeline project.
The development comes as the European Union is considering imposing limits on major energy producers from owning transportation and distribution assets in the EU, part of a wider EU policy to encourage competition in the sector.
Gazprom, eager to broaden its activities and enter distribution in Western Europe, does not want to be constrained by this policy. The company and Russian officials have opposed the measure, saying Moscow could retaliate by further limiting access of Western companies to Russian energy resources, a Reuters report said.
An official at Gazprom's export arm, Gazpromexport, told Reuters German regulators were not allowing Gazprom and its partners to build new pipelines on the country's territory before the group agrees to give access to third parties.
"Our project partner has already asked German regulators to give us more time, but it was rejected on general grounds," said Sergei Komlev, head of directorate at Gazpromexport.
If new requests are rejected it would mean that, even if the €5 billion ($7.11 billion) subsea section of the pipeline is built, gas could not flow to the German mainland via two onshore pipelines, also planned by the partners.
Gazprom's partners in Nord Stream are German energy players E.ON and BASF.
"E.ON has recently sent a new request to build two new pipelines," said Komlev.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier this month she hoped the pipeline would be built on time as the project is politically desirable.
The Nord Stream project is run by Merkel's predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, who has been criticised at home for accepting a lucrative job from Gazprom soon after leaving office.
Nord Stream is key to Gazprom's policies of diversifying export routes after its pricing disputes with Ukraine and Belarus led to major cuts in gas and oil deliveries to Europe over the past two years.
Russia supplies one quarter of Europe's gas and is also an important source of crude for the EU.
Some countries, including the former Soviet Baltic republics and Poland have raised concerns about the environmental safety of Nord Stream, which recently agreed to change the route to place it away from the known World War II munitions dump sites.
Poland is also concerned that it could be more vulnerable to cuts in Russian supplies of gas for its own use once the Baltic route provides Moscow with an alternative to pipelines across Polish soil as a means of exporting gas to Europe.