Gazprom has announced that it will complete the construction of the US$11bn Nord Stream II gas pipeline without involving other companies in the project. The pipeline is 94% complete, but it remains unclear how the Russian group will achieve its construction. The foreign companies participating in the project were Finnish, Swedish and Danish, and also included the Swiss pipelayer and undersea construction firm Allseas, as well as the Italian pipeline contractor Saipem.
In December 2019, the United States imposed sanctions on companies working on the project, considering that it would increase the European Union's dependence on Russia and would give Russia more influence over economic and security matters in Europe. Earlier in January 2020, Russia postponed the commissioning of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project from mid-2020 to the end of 2020 or early 2021, due to US sanctions against the gas pipeline that could delay the project by several months. The project, which was initially expected in late 2019 had already been postponed to 2020 in November 2019.
The 55 bcm/year gas project will double the gas export capacity of the existing Nord Stream gas pipeline that stretches between Vyborg (Russia) and Greifswald (Germany). The project is developed by Gazprom (50%), in partnership with Uniper, Shell, OMV, Wintershall and Engie (10% each). Gazprom launched the expansion project in 2015 and started the permitting process with the countries where the submarine gas pipeline would be laid in 2017. The gas pipeline project was approved before in Finland, Sweden, Germany and Russia but only secured a construction permit in Denmark in October 2019, delaying its construction within the Danish exclusive economic zone, outside of Danish territorial water.