ZURICH, March 20 (Reuters) - Austria's OMV supports
the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline between
Russia and Germany despite the threat of U.S. sanctions, CEO
Rainer Seele said.
"This project is of great importance for the security of
supply of the European gas market, it is therefore Europe's
responsibility to decide," Seele told Austrian newspaper Wiener
Zeitung.
"We have had a deep transatlantic friendship with the USA
for decades. And friends shouldn't threaten each other," he said
in an interview published on Saturday.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week the
State Department was tracking efforts to complete the natural
gas pipeline and evaluating information on entities that appear
to be involved.
Any company involved should immediately abandon work or risk
U.S. sanctions, Blinken said.
Nearly 20 companies, mostly insurance firms, recently quit
the project after Washington warned that they could be
sanctioned.
OMV's Seele said he hoped the project - which is being led
by Russia's Gazprom - would be completed.
The Austrian company is one of Gazprom's partners in the 9.5
billion euro project.
Others include Germany’s Uniper, BASF’s
Wintershall Dea, Royal Dutch Shell and
France's Engie.
The project pits Germany against central and eastern
European nations which argue the project to double Russia's gas
export capacity across the Baltic Sea increases Europe's
dependence on Russian gas and could be used as a political tool
by Moscow.
Lithuania's foreign affairs minister said last month the
project should be paused until Russia’s parliamentary elections
in September to pressure Moscow for democratic reforms and as a
compromise between its European supporters and critics.
"In Europe we have clear rules of the game that are based on
consensus. The concerns of smaller member states must therefore
be taken into account," Seele told the newspaper.
"As a connecting country for Nord Stream 2, Germany has a
clear position. Political dialogue has to be conducted and
persuasion has to be done."
(Reporting by John Revill; editing by Jason Neely)
