LONDON (ICIS) – The Polish Antimonopoly Authority (UOKiK) fined Nord Stream 2 pipeline investors a total of 29.3 billion zlotys.
announced the authority On Wednesday.

In April 2017, the investors – Russia’s Gazprom, France’s Engie, Germany’s Wintershall and Uniper, Austria’s OMV and the international conglomerate Shell – agreed to cofinance the 9.5 billion loan of EUR 950 million each to Nord Stream 2 AG, a subsidiary from Gazprom. Gazprom is the sole shareholder in the project.

Nord Stream 2 will double Russia’s direct pipeline export capacity to the EU to 110 billion cubic meters (billion cubic meters) per year. This is around half the volume Gazprom plans to deliver to Europe – its main export market – by 2030. The EU gets around 35% of its gas supplies from Russia.

“By pledging the shares in Nord Stream 2, the financing parties became“ quasi ”shareholders of this company – in the event of a default under the loan agreement, they would be entitled to take over the shares in the company that is building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline “, Said UOKiK when announcing the fine.

This violation of the rules of fair competition can have serious consequences for the Polish and EU economies, in particular by introducing territorial restrictions on gas supplies and increasing gas prices for end customers, especially Polish consumers, UOKiK also said.

The agency gave investors 30 days after receiving the fine to terminate their financing agreements.

The completion of this project will increase the economic dependence on Russian gas – not only in the case of Poland, but also in the case of other European countries, said UOKiK President Tomasz Chrostny.

Poland will not extend its supply contract with Russia, which expires at the end of December 2022, said Polish Energy Minister Piotr Naimski last year.

The country pushed for a diversification of the supply and managed to supply Russian pipeline deliveries from the beginning of 2023 through long-term US LNG contracts, Norwegian gas over the planned 10 billion
whether this strategy is sustainable
remains to be seen.

On Wednesday, Gazprom announced that it “will certainly exercise its right to appeal the decision”.

UOKiK initially had
sentenced to a fine of 48 million euros on Gazprom in August and Engie € 39 million in 2019 under the same investigation, but decided on Tuesday to impose a “maximum fine”.

BOXOUT

UOKiK FINES

Gazprom: € 6.48 billion

OMV: € 19.6 million

Technology: € 12.4 million

Wintershall: € 6.87 million

Cover: € 6.74 million

Uniper: € 6.67 million