“A financier from Miami plans to secretly buy “Nord Stream-2” in order to influence the Russian Federation in negotiations – WSJ Financier Stephen Lynch is asking for US permission to participate in the auction for the purchase of “Nord Stream-2”. He plans to use the gas pipeline as a lever of influence on the Russian Federation in peace negotiations regarding Ukraine.”, — write on: unn.ua
Details
Lynch, who spent two decades doing business in Moscow, now wants to buy a gas pipeline that connects Russia to Germany. He argued to US officials and lawmakers that American ownership of the pipeline would leverage any peace talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine and serve long-term US interests.
This is a unique opportunity for America and Europe to control European energy resources until the end of the fossil fuel era
Lynch applied for the license to the U.S. Treasury Department in February, according to a letter written by his WilmerHale lawyers and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The license would allow him to negotiate the construction of the pipeline with entities currently under US sanctions.
The letter said Nord Stream 2’s Swiss bankruptcy proceedings set a hard deadline of January to restructure its debt (which the letter said was unlikely) or face liquidation. Lynch argues that once the war is over, both Russia and its former clients in Germany and Europe will be tempted to turn on the pipeline, regardless of who owns it.
Sources say Lynch has said he thinks he can buy Nord Stream 2, which is valued at about $11 billion, for a dollar. He said many investors would not bid because of the complex geopolitics surrounding the pipeline, and other bidders were likely to include Russian proxies, Chinese entities or others opposed to US interests.
A group of US senators, as well as Treasury and State Department officials, were briefed on Lynch’s plan.
During the last election, Lynch gave more than $300,000 to Trump’s committees and the Republican National Committee.
Let’s add
A series of explosions took place in September 2022 on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines, which transport gas through the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Germany, Denmark and Sweden launched an investigation, and the Swedes found traces of explosives on several items recovered from the blast site, confirming that the blasts were deliberate.
Podolyak pointed to Russia in the Nord Stream case – ReutersAugust 15 2024, 09:58 • 35156 views