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Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline will be launched by the end of 2020. It will be finished with the help of the ship Akademik Cherskiy. However. `it will take some time` for additional preparation of the vessel. he said. According to the Marine Traffic website. Akademik Chersky is currently located in the port of Nakhodka in the Primorsky Krai. It will take at least a month for the ship to arrive at the location of the pipeline`s construction.
A few days earlier. the president of the United Shipbuilding Corporation (USC). Alexei Rakhmanov. said that Russia doesn`t have pipe-laying vessels that would be able to complete the construction of the gas pipeline. According to the head of USC. Russia can build its pipe-laying ship. but it will take up to 6 years.
Russia needs to find a new pipe-laying vessel because of the recent US sanctions against contractors involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream pipelines. Punitive measures against foreign companies that provide ships for the construction of these pipelines are included in the United States National Defense Authorization Act for 2020 (NDAA). Sanctions introduce a ban on entry to the United States for representatives of these companies. as well as the freezing of any assets in the country. The sanctions came into force on December 20. and a few hours later. the Swiss company AllSeas suspended its work on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
Russia has criticized US sanctions. According to the first deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Dmitry Novikov. the goal of the US is `to remove Russia from the European energy market and promote American companies.`
