Nord Stream 2’s German unit says may be wound up

BERLIN (Reuters) – The German unit of the Gazprom-led Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline said on Thursday it will probably be wound up after the German government halted the project’s certification last week in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Due to current developments, also at our shareholder Nord Stream 2 AG, Gas for Europe GmbH will probably be wound up,” the company said in a statement on its website.

Gazprom subsidiary Nord Stream 2 AG had to set up the German division to comply with European energy rules that require pipeline owners to be different from suppliers of gas flowing in them to ensure fair competition.

The comments come two days after sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that Nord Stream 2 AG, which built the pipeline that was supposed to bypass Ukraine to transport Russian gas to Germany, was considering filing for insolvency.

As of Thursday, a statement on the Nord Stream 2 AG website said it could not confirm that it had filed for bankruptcy.

(Reporting by Riham Alkousaa and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Madeline Chambers)