OREANDA-NEWS. The launch of Nord Stream 2 is already capable of stabilizing the European gas market today, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said in his article for the Energy Policy magazine. According to him, the foundations of stability in this industry are reliable energy supply, a balance of energy sources and the absence of discrimination against traditional sectors of the fuel and energy complex.

On the example of last year, we were convinced that drastic and thoughtless decisions in an industry fundamental to the global economy lead to negative consequences for the entire global market,” the Deputy Prime Minister noted.

Using the gas supplied by Nord Stream 2 to generate electricity instead of coal, he said, would allow the EU to reduce its total carbon dioxide emissions by 14%, which corresponds to the annual emissions of about 30 million average cars.

Earlier, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that European countries should abandon the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and find alternative energy sources. In turn, Bundestag deputy from the Left Party, Sevim Dagdelen, called the delay in the certification of the pipeline meaningless, and considered Washington's demand to curtail the project "stupid". According to her, while citizens in Europe "are afraid of a new war, American gas concerns are in a great mood."

Austrian Minister of Digitalization and Economy Margarethe Schramböck said that Vienna also does not intend to abandon Nord Stream 2, despite the persuasion of other countries. She added that the country has already invested a large sum in the construction of the gas pipeline through the Austrian company OMV. Schrambeck noted that if there is no war in Ukraine, the gas pipeline should be put into operation.