* Uniper is a financial backer of Nord Stream 2 project
* Risk of non-completion is increasing
* Uniper has committed to fund up to 950 mln eur
(Adds German, Russian foreign ministers, paragraph 4)
By Christoph Steitz and Tom Käckenhoff
FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF, Aug 11 (Reuters) - German utility
Uniper on Tuesday said it may have to impair a loan
provided to the planned Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline if the
project collapses in the face of U.S. sanctions.
"Pressure has further intensified," Chief Executive Andreas
Schierenbeck said in an analyst call to discuss first-half
results. Uniper earlier on Tuesday said the latest U.S. sanction
efforts had increased the risk that the project could falter.
"The worst case would be, of course, if (Nord Stream 2)
would never be finished and then, of course, the question is can
we get our money back or not," he said, adding he expected the
pipeline to go ahead as planned.
The German and Russian foreign ministers, holding talks in
Moscow, lent backing to his view, with Germany's Heiko Maas
insisting it was Germany's "sovereign decision" to choose where
to get its energy from.
Shares in Uniper, which is majority-owned by Finland's
Fortum, were down 1.7%. The group also said
first-half operating profits more than doubled, citing its gas
business as well as capacity market payments.
Uniper is one of the financial backers of the 9.5 billion
euro ($11.2 billion) Nord Stream 2 pipeline owned by Russia's
Gazprom, along with Austria's OMV,
Wintershall DEA, Royal Dutch Shell and
France's Engie.
It has committed to fund up to 950 million euros of the
project costs. Investments made by Uniper so far are not subject
to the current sanctions regime, Schierenbeck said.
But U.S. opposition to the pipeline is mounting. U.S.
President Donald Trump has already signed a sanctions bill that
delayed construction of the project and lawmakers are
contemplating further action.
At the heart of the conflict lie U.S. concerns that Nord
Stream 2, which would link Russian gas fields to western Europe,
would increase the region's energy dependence on Moscow.
Backers, including Germany, say the gas is needed.
($1 = 0.8488 euros)
(Additional reporting by Vera Eckert and Thomas Escritt;
Editing by Thomas Seythal, Louise Heavens and Barbara Lewis)
