Nord Stream 2 fires staff as it weighs up insolvency amid US sanctions
The Kremlin-backed company which built the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has let go of all its workers, and could file for insolvency, according to Reuters.
Swiss-registered Nord Stream 2 AG has terminated the contracts of its employees, with 140 staff employed by the company.
Two sources also told the news agency that Nord Stream 2 AG has been working with a financial advisers on cleating its liabilities and could begin insolvency proceedings, as it attempts to settle clams ahead of a US sanction deadline which will stop other entities dealing with the company.
The Swiss-based company is owned by Kremlin-backed gas giant Gazprom, and was sanctioned by the US last week after Russia recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.
Following its invasion of the country, the West has imposed a stringent and sweeping range of sanctions on Russia, crippling its economy.
Nord Stream 2 AG completed the $11 billion project which was designed to double the capacity to pump gas from Russia to Germany.
However, German chancellor Olaf Scholz suspended the certification process last month, leaving the future of the pipeline in doubt.
Gazprom paid half the cost of building Nord Stream 2, with the remainder of the $11bn pipeline project financed by British oil and gas major Shell, Austria’s OMV, France’s Engie and Germany’s Uniper, and Wintershall DEA,
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week – multiple energy giants including BP, Shell and Equinor abandoned stakes in Kremlin-supported projects.