The Nord Stream 2 pipeline connects Russia, Germany, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. The project is being built by Nord Stream 2 AG, a consortium incorporated in Switzerland. It's financed for 50% by Uniper, Wintershall Dea, OMV, Engie and Royal Dutch Shell (€9.5 billion). The other half is being financed by Gazprom, Europe's largest supplier of natural gas, accounting for more than a third of the region's gas market.
Although German regulators have yet to clear gas flows, completion of the construction stage means Russia has boosted its energy exporting capabilities towards Europe both from the north in the Baltic Sea and from the south in the Black Sea, where it operates the TurkStream pipeline.
Before Germany's energy regulator approves Nord Stream 2, it must comply with European unbundling rules that require pipelines owners to be different from suppliers of gas flowing in them to ensure fair competition.
Ukraine and The United States opposed Nord Stream 2 since it was launched in 2015. While Kiev was successful under the former Trump Administration with its lobby against the project, which resulted in the halt of construction for more than a year, it was disappointed when Washington and Berlin finally achieved a compromise this year.
Russia is and will remain a major challenge to Germany. Even more so in the near future, as the German elections on Sept. 26 will most likely result in long coalition talks with an acting government for a transitional period. Since the announcement of the pipeline project in 2015, Russia has created facts: first by brokering a consortium of Gazprom and five European companies, later in continuing construction work despite targeted U.S. sanctions.
The Nord Stream 2 project is one of the largest economic deals ever made between the European Union and Russia. Below is a video from the Russian media, showing Vladimir Putin trolling the "European Bureaucrats" who would have to pay 4 times the current price for gas if they wouldn't make a long term contract with Gazprom.
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